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THE UNITED STATES 
IN THE WORLD WAR 



THE UNITED STATES 
IN THE WORLD WAR 



BY 
JOHN BACH McMASTER 

PH0FE88OR OF AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 
AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES 




H 



D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

NEW YORK LONDON 

1918 



-^o' 



^t^"^ 



COPTHIGHT, 1918, BT 

JOHN BACH McMASTER 



Printed in the United States of America 



TO 

FIRST LIEUTENANT PHILIP DURYEE McMASTER 
UNITED STATES ARMY MEDICAL CORPS 



CONTENTS 



I. The Opening of the European War . 

II. Pro-German Propaganda — Belgian Relief 

III. Neutral Trade 

IV. Submarine Frightfulness . 
V. The "Lusitania" Notes . 

VI. An Embargo Demanded 

VII. Treacherous Acts of German Officials 

VIII. Sinking waTHouT Warning. 

IX. Preparedness and Pacifists . 

X. Plots and Crimes in Sea and on Land 

XI. The Peace Notes .... 

XII. Diplomatic Relations Broken . 

XIII. We Enter the War , . . 

XIV. The Call to the Colors . 
XV. German Intrigue 

XVI. Rationing and Fighting 

XVII, International Peace Debate 



PAGE 

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23 
51 
82 
106 
132 
158 
198 
230 
255 
290 
315 
351 
366 
397 
418 
433 



\ 



THE UNITED STATES IN 
THE WORLD WAR 

CHAPTEE I 

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAE 

June 29, 1914, the newspapers in the United States made 
known to their readers that on the previous day the Archduke 
Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his 
morganatic wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, had been assassi- 
nated in Serajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of 
Bosnia. 

The event was no new occurrence in the House of Austria. 
Within forty-seven years the Emperor Francis Joseph had lost, 
by the assassin's hand, his brother, his son, his wife and now 
his nephew. During a day or two the murder was a matter of 
current conversation; but ere July was half spent the crime 
had been almost forgotten. Our trouble with Mexico, home 
rule for Ireland, the doings of the Ulster men, the Caillaux 
trial, the violence of the suffragettes in England held the atten- 
tion of the public. 

Great was the astonishment of our countrymen, therefore, 
when they read in the newspapers of July 24, that cable dis- 
patches from London reported weakness in the stock markets 
of Europe caused by fear of war between Austria-Hungary and 
Serbia, and the possible drawing into the conflict of other Euro- 
pean powers. Newspapers of July 25 contained a dispatch from 
London setting forth that an ultimatum of unprecedented se- 
verity had been sent to Serbia by Austria-Hungary; that it 
sought to fasten on Serbia responsibility for the assassination 

1 



2 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

of the Archduke and his wife, that compliance with the de- 
mands of the dual monarchy would be a confession of guilt, that 
forty-eight hours were allowed in which to reply, and that Rus- 
sia was seeking extension of the time granted Serbia. Vienna 
dispatches announced that if Serbia did not reply before six 
o'clock on the evening of July 25 her minister would be handed 
his passports. From Berlin came reports that Germany had 
been consulted by Austria, that her action had been approved, 
that, should Russia take part with Serbia, Germany was pre- 
pared to draw the sword, and that serious developments were 
expected unless Serbia yielded. July 27, it was known that 
passports had been handed the Serbian minister and that Ger- 
many had notified the powers that she regarded the war as 
between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and that it must be local- 
ized. 

When, some months later, the diplomatic correspondence 
between the powers was given to the world in the Austro-Hun- 
garian Red Book, the Serbian Blue Book, the Russian Orange 
Book, the German White Book, the French Yellow Book, the 
Belgian Gray Book, and the British White Paper, some faint 
glimmering of what took place was revealed. ' 

jit then came to light that during the interval between the 
twenty-eighth of June and the twenty-third of July, Austria- 
Hungary had investigated the murders at Serajevo, and had 
reached the conclusion they had been prepared and abetted in 
Belgrade with the help of Serbian officials, had been per- 
petrated with arms taken from the Serbian State Arsenal, were 
directly connected with a movement long going on in Serbia 
to revolutionize, and finally tear away from Austria her south- 
western provinces and join them to Serbia, and that in this 
policy Serbia believed herself to be heartily supported by 
Russia. Having reached this conclusion, Austria decided that 
the time had gone by when this agitation across her border 
could longer be endured ; that having informed her ally, Ger- 
many, of this decision she was assured that any action taken 
would be approved, and that, bent on war, she presented to 
Serbia, on July 23, 1914, not a note but an ultimatum. 

In this ultimatum the direct connection between the Sera- 
jevo murders and the pan-Serb movement was stated from the 



THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 3 

Austrian point of view. Serbia was charged with fostering a 
"propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary, . . . whose 
aim it is to separate from the monarchy parts which belong to 
it," was required to publish "on the first page" of her "official 
organ of July 26, 1914," a humiliating apology in words dic- 
tated by Austria, bind herself to do ten humiliating things, and 
return her answer before six o'clock on the evening of Saturday, 
July 25. Copies of the note were delivered on July 24, to the 
Governments in Berlin, Home, Paris, London, St. Petersburg 
and Constantinople. 

The demands on Serbia were : 

1. Suppress any publication which incites hatred of the Austro- 
Hungarian Monarchy. 

2. Dissolve at once the Narodna Odbrana and all other societies 
which carried on propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Mon- 
archy. 

3. Eliminate without delay from public instruction in Serbia, 
both from the teaching body and methods of instruction, everything 
which served to foment feeHng against Austria-Hungary. 

4. Remove from military and administrative service every officer 
guilty of propaganda against Austria-Hungary. 

5. "Accept the collaboration in Serbia" of representatives of 
Austria-Hungary for the suppression of "subversive movement 
directed against the territorial integrity of the Monarchy." 

6. Take judicial proceedings against the accessories to the mur- 
der at Serajevo. 

7. Arrest Major Voija Tankositch and Milan Ciganovitch, "com- 
promised by the results of the magisterial inquiry at Serajevo." 

8. Stop the illicit traffic in arms across the frontier, dismiss and 
punish the frontier officials at Schabatz and Loznica "guilty of hav- 
ing assisted the perpetrators of the Serajevo crime by facilitating 
their passage across the frontiers." 

9. Explain the unjustifiable utterances of high Serbian officials 
at home and abroad who have not hesitated since the crime at 
Serajevo, to express hostility to the Austro-Hungarian Government. 

10. Notify the Imperial and Royal Government without delay of 
the execution of the preceding demands.* 

The whole world was taken by surprise. On the day the 
ultimatum was delivered Europe seemed to be in a state of per- 
fect peace. It was vacation time. The Serbian Prime Minister 
was not in Belgrade ; the Russian Ambassador had left Vienna ; 
^ British White Paper, No. 4. 



4 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the President of the French Republic was far from Paris ; the 
British and Eussian Ambassadors were not in Berlin, and the 
Emperor of Germany, it may be to keep up appearances of 
peace, had gone northward on his yacht. 

The day after the delivery of the ultimatum Germany 
warned the Entente Powers not to interfere.^ July 24 her 
Ambassador appeared before the French Minister of Foreign 
Aifairs and read a note verbale. The publications of Austria- 
Hungary concerning the Serajevo murders, Germany said, dis- 
closed clearly the aims of the pan-Serb propaganda and the 
means used for its realization. Serb ij^ intrigue could be 
traced back through a series of years, and was especially 
marked during the Bosnian crisis. Only the self-restraint 
of Austria, and the energetic intercession of the powers pre- 
vented a conflict at that time. The assurances of good be- 
havior then given by Serbia had not been kept. Under the 
very eyes of official Serbia the pan-Serb propaganda had grown 
in scope and intensity, and at its door was to be laid this latest 
crime the threads of which led to Belgrade. It was impossible 
for Austria to any longer look with indifference on the doings 
across the border. Her demands were justifiable. But the 
Serbian Government might decline to meet them, and "allow 
themselves to be carried away into a provocative attitude to- 
wards Austria-Hungary." In that event nothing remained to 
Austria-Hungary but to press her demands, if need be, with 
military measures. But "in the present case there is only ques- 
tion of a matter to be settled exclusively between Austria-Hun- 
gary and Serbia," and the Great Powers ought seriously to 
endeavor to restrict it to those two immediately concerned. 

"The German Government desires urgently the localization 
of the dispute because every interference of another power 
would, owing to the natural play of alliances, be followed by 
incalculable consequences." 

The part taken by the powers began with a proposal from 
Russia that the time allowed Serbia be extended. On July 24 
the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs instructed the Russian 
charge at Vienna to telegraph London, Rome, Paris and Bel- 
grade that to prevent the incalculable and fatal consequences of 

=* German White Book, Exhibit 1. 



THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 5 

"the course of action followed by the Austro-Himgarian Gov- 
ernment it seems to us to be above all essential that the period 
allowed for the Serbian reply should be extended. Austria- 
Hungary having declared her readiness to inform the Powers 
of the results of the inquiry upon which the Imperial and 
Koyal Government base their accusations, should equally allow 
them time to study them." ^ 

Sir Edward Grey at once bade the British Ambassador at 
Vienna "support in general terms the steps taken by your Rus- 
sian colleague," * and the French Acting Minister of Foreign 
Affairs telegraphed the French Ambassador at Vienna: "The 
Russian Government has instructed its representative at Vienna 
to ask the Austrian Government for an extension of the time 
limit fixed for Serbia. ... I beg you to support the request 
of your colleagTie." ^ But Count Berchtold of Austria replied 
"we cannot consent to a prolongation of time limit. . . . Ser- 
bia, even after breaking off of diplomatic relations, can bring 
about friendly relations by unconditional acceptance of our 
demands, although we should be obliged in such an event to 
demand reimbursement by Serbia of all costs and damages 
incurred by us through our military measures." ^ 

Within the time allowed Serbia made her reply and yielded 
to all the demands with reasonable limitations. Austria de- 
clared it "insincere," "unsatisfactory," "evasive," as not fully 
complying with her demands, and July 25 her Minister broke 
off diplomatic relations and left Belgrade. 

And now Sir Edward Grey came forward with a new 
proposition. He had said to the German Ambassador, just 
after the delivery of the German note on July 24, that "if the 
Austrian ultimatum to Serbia did not lead to trouble between 
Austria and Russia" he "had no concern with it," and re- 
minded the Ambassador "that some days ago he had expressed 
a personal hope that if need arose" Sir Edward "would en- 
deavor to exercise moderating influence at St. Petersburg." 
But in view of the stiff character of the note, the wide range 
of the demands of Serbia, Sir Edward did not believe any 

* Russian Orange Book, No. 4. 

* British Blue Paper, No. 26. 
'French Yellow Book, No. 39. 

* Austrian Red Book, No. 20, July 25. 



6 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

power could exercise influence alone. The only chance for 
mediation was for Germany, Italy, France and Great Britain 
to work together simultaneously at St. Petersburg and ViennaJ 

To the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg he wrote: 
"The sudden, brusque, and peremptory character of the Austrian 
demarche makes it almost inevitable that in a very short time 
both Russia and Austria will have mobilized against each other. 
In this event, the only chance of peace, in my opinion, is for 
the other four Powers to join in asking the i\.ustrian and Rus- 
sian Governments not to cross the frontier, and to give time 
for the four Powers acting at Vienna and St. Petersburg to 
try and ariange matters. Jf Germany will adopt this view, I 
feel strongly that France and ourselves should act upon it." 

Austria having rejected the reply of Serbia and having 
broken diplomatic relations, there was no longer any doubt that 
Russia and Austria would mobilize against each other, and Sir 
Edward Grey on July 26 put his plan into operation and 
inquired of Italy, France and Germany if they would instruct 
their representatives in London to join "in conference imme- 
diately for the purpose of discovering an issue which would 
prevent complications.'' If so, requests should be made to 
Serbia, Austria and Russia "that all active military operations 
should be suspended pending results of conference." France 
and Italy at once consented. When Russia was asked if it 
seemed "desirable that Great Britain should take the initiative 
in convoking a conference in London of the representatives of 
Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy, to examine the 
possibilities of a way out of the present situation," the Russian 
Foreign Minister replied, that he had "begun conversations 
with the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador under conditions 
which" he "hopes may be favorable." "If direct explanations 
with the Vienna Cabinet were to prove impossible" he was 
"ready to accept the British proposal." 

The German Foreign Secretary thought that such a confer- 
ence "would practically amount to a court of arbitration" 
which could not be called save "at the request of Austria and 
Russia." ]S"evertheless Germany accepted "in principle media- 
tion between Austria and Russia by the four Powers, reserv- 

• British White Paper, No. 11. 



THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 7 

ing, of course, their right as an Ally to help Austria if at- 
tacked." The Imperial Chancellor declined to accept the pro- 
posal. It would have the appearance of an ''Areopagus" con- 
sisting of two Powers of each group sitting in judgment on the 
other two. 

Such being the state of affairs on July 28, Sir Edward Grey 
telegraphed the British Ambassador at Berlin that the German 
Government having accepted the principle of mediation be- 
tween Austria and Russia by the four Powers, he was ready to 
propose that the German Government suggest the lines on which 
this principle should be applied. But he would keep the idea 
in reserve until the results of the "conversations between Aus- 
tria and Russia were known." ^ '^ 

He did not wait long. That same day, July 28, Austria 
declared war on Serbia and the Russian Ambassador at London 
received this telegram from St. Petersburg:^ "Austrian dec- 
laration of war clearly puts an end to the idea of direct com- 
munication between Austria and Russia. Action by London 
Cabinet in order to set on foot mediation with a view to sus- 
pension of military operations of Austria against Serbia is now 
most urgent." 

On the following day Russia began partial mobilization 
against Austria and Sir Edward Grey "urged that the German 
Government should suggest any method by which the influence * 
of the four Powers could be used together to prevent war be- 
tween Austria and Russia." "Mediation," he said, "was ready 
to come into operation by any method if Germany would 'press 
the button' in the interests of peace." ^^ 

At Berlin on that day the Chancellor, well aware that Aus- 
tria was bent on war, and that Germany would aid her, sent 
for the British Ambassador and made a strong bid for British 
neutrality. Should Austria, he said, be attacked by Russia "a 
European conflagration," he feared, "might become inevitable 
owing to Germany's obligations as Austria's ally." He did not 
expect that Great Britain would "stand by and allow France 
to be crushed in any conflict that might be," and made a bid for 

"British Blue Book, No. 68. 

• Ibid, No. 70. 

"British Blue Book, No. 84. 



8 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

British neutrality. Should she give assurance of neutrality, 
Germany would give her assurance that she "aimed at no ter- 
ritorial acquisitions at the expense of France" should Germany 
"prove victorious in any war that might ensue." But he would 
give no pledge as to the French Colonies. 

Sir Edward replied that he could not "for a moment enter- 
tain the Chancellor's proposal"; what "he asks us in effect is 
to engage to stand by while French colonies are taken and 
France is beaten so long as Germany does not take French ter- 
ritory as distinct from the colonies." 

As for Belgium, the Chancellor had told the British Am- 
bassador that "it depended on the action of France what opera- 
tions Germany might be forced to enter upon in Belgium, but 
when the war was over, Belgian territory would be respected if 
she had not sided against Germany." 

To this Sir Edward replied: "The Chancellor also in effect 
asks us to bargain away whatever obligation or interest we 
have as regards the neutrality of Belgium. We could not enter- 
tain that bargain either." 

July 30, Russia agreed "to stop all military preparations" 
if Austria, recognizing that her war with Serbia had become 
one of European interest, would "eliminate from her ultimatum 
points which violate the principle of sovereigTity of Serbia," and 
the German Ambassador informed Sir Edward Grey that the 
Imperial Government would endeavor to persuade Austria, 
after taking Belgrade and the Serbian territory near the fron- 
tier, to promise not to advance further while the Powers at- 
tempted to arrange that Serbia give satisfaction to Austria. 

But the next day, July 31, Russia began to mobilize her 
entire fleet and army; Germany demanded that within twelve 
hours she demobilize along both the German and Austrian fron- 
tiers, declared "Kriegefahrzustand," the state of danger of war, 
and asked both France and Great Britain what attitude %hey 
intended to assume. France asked if Great Britain would help 
her if attacked by Germany. Sir Edward Grey inquired of 
both France and Germany if each would respect the neutrality 
of Belgium if violated by the other. France replied that she 
would "respect the neutrality of Belgium, and it would be only 
in the event of some other Power violating that neutrality that 



THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 9 

France might find herself under the necessity, in order to assure 
defense of her own security, to act otherwise." The German 
Secretary of State replied that he must consult the Emperor 
and the Chancellor before he could answer, and was very doubt- 
ful whether they would return any answer at all, lest "a certain 
amount of their plan of campaign in the event of war" be dis- 
closed. This to Sir Edward Grey was ^'a matter of great regret 
because the neutrality of Belgium affected feeling in" England. 
If Germany, he told her Ambassador, "could see her way to 
give the same assurance as France," it would greatly relieve 
the tension. The Ambassador thereupon asked if Germany 
gave a pledge not to violate the neutrality of Belgium, would 
England remain neutral ? Sir Edward could not say that, but 
he could say that her attitude would be largely determined by 
public opinion, and that the neutrality of Belgium would 
appeal strongly to public opinion in England. 

The end had come. Diplomatic play for time had ended. 
Never for a moment had Germany intended to keep the 
peace. Since July 25 her troops had been moving to the 
French frontier where barbed wire entanglements were made 
stronger, trees cut do^vm, railway stations occupied, and where 
in a few days eight army corps were on a war footing. Be- 
cause of this, France, on August 1, ordered general mobiliza-- 
tion. Germany that day declared war on Russia, ordered gen- 
eral mobilization to begin on August 2, and on that day sent 
her troops over the border into the Duchy of Luxemburg, in 
wanton disregard of its neutrality, and presented an ultimatum 
to Belgium. There was no doubt, the note said, "as to the 
intention of France to march through Belgian territory to at- 
tack Germany" ; it was "essential for the self-defense of Ger- 
many that she should anticipate any such hostile attack," 
and cross Belgian soil ; that if Belgium maintained "an attitude 
of friendly neutrality" and made no resistance, Germany would, 
when peace was made, "evacuate Belgian territory," and "guar- 
antee the possessions and independence of the Belgian kingdom 
in full." Should Belgium "oppose the German troops," Ger- 
many would, "to her regret, be forced to consider Belgium her 
enemy," and the "eventual adjustment of the relations between 
the two states must be left to the decision of arms." 



10 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

The note was presented at seven o'clock on the evening of 
August 2, and the reply must be made before seven o'clock 
on the morning of the third. Tt was made at that hour and in 
it are these words: ''The Belgian Government, if they were to 
accept the proposals submitted to them, would sacrifice the 
honor of the nation and betray their duty towards Europe." 

At six forty-five o'clock on the afternoon of the third, the 
German Ambassador at Paris handed M. Viviani a note charg- 
ing France with certain "flagrantly hostile acts committed on 
German territory by French military aviators," and stating that 
because of these "the German Empire considers itself in a state 
of war with France." 

Belgium meantime applied to Great Britain for diplomatic 
intervention in her behalf as one of the gi^iarantors of her neu- 
trality. Great Britain, thereupon, early in the forenoon of 
August 4, bade her Ambassador, "protest against this violation 
of a treaty to which Germany is a party in common with our- 
selves," and "request an assurance that the demand made upon 
Belgium will not be proceeded with and that her neutrality will 
be respected by Germany." Hearing, as tlie day wore on, that 
British ships had been seized "at Hamburg, Cuxhaven and 
other German ports," and "that German troops had entered Bel- 
gian territory, and that Liege has been summoned to surren- 
der," Sir Edward Grey bade the British Ambassador request 
that an answer to the note of the morning be received in Lon- 
don before twelve o'clock "to-night.'' If it were not he was to 
ask for his passports and say: "that Llis ^Majesty's Govern- 
ment feel bound to take all steps in their power to uphold the 
neutrality of Belgium and the observance of a treaty to which 
Germany is as much a party as ourselves." 

The German Ambassador at London was now instructed to 
say that under no pretext whatever would Germany annex Bel- 
gian territory; that she had been forced to disregard Belgian 
neutrality because she had unimpeachable information that 
France would attack across Belgium, and because it was a mat- 
ter of life and death to prevent such attack. 

When the British Ambassador at Berlin on the morning of 
the fourth called on the German Secretary of State, Herr von 
Jagow, to ask if Belgian neutrality would be respected, the an- 



THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 11 

swer he received was "ISTo," for it had ah-eady been violated. 
When he went about seven in the evening to state that unless, 
by midnight, assurances were given that Germany would pro- 
ceed no further with her violation of Belgium, he must demand 
his passports, von Jagow replied that he could give no other 
answer than he had given in the morning. The Ambassador 
then called on the Chancellor and found him "very agitated." 
He said "that the step taken by His Majesty's Government was 
terrible to a degree ; just for a word, neutrality, a word which 
in war time had so often been disregarded, just for a scrap of 
paper, Great Britain was going to make war on a kindred nation 
who desired nothing better than to be friends with her." 

About half after nine in the evening Herr Zimmermann, 
Under Secretary of State, called at the British Embassy to ex- 
press regret to the Ambassador that their friendly personal re- 
lations were about to cease and asked "casually whether a de- 
mand for passports was equivalent to a declaration of war." 
The Ambassador replied in substance that his Government 
"expected an answer to a definite question by twelve o'clock 
that night and that in default of a satisfactory answer they 
would be forced to take such steps as their engagements re- 
quired." Herr Zimmermann said this was in fact a declaration 
of war, "as the Imperial Government could not possibly give the 
assurance required either that night or any other night." 

Meantime the Berliner TagehlaU issued a flying sheet an- 
nouncing that Great Britain had declared war, a mob soon 
gathered before the Embassy and the windows were stoned. 
At eleven o'clock on August 5 the Ambassador received his pass- 
ports. 

Great Britain, France and Russia were now at war with 
Germany, and on September 4, 1914, at London, Paul Cam- 
bon. Count Benckendorff and Sir Edward Grey, representing* 
the Triple Entente, signed a declaration that the British, 
French and Russian Governments bound themselves not to 
make peace separately during the war, and that, when the time 
came to discuss peace, no one of them would demand terms 
without the previous agreement of each of the others. 

Of these stirring events Americans at home and abroad 
were no idle spectators. They, too, in many ways were seri- 



12 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

ously affected. By Monday, the twenty-seventh, it was known 
that the Serbian Minister had received his passports; that par- 
tial mobilization had been ordered by Austria ; that Russia had 
mobilized on the Austrian frontier, but that hopes were enter- 
tained that the war might be localized. Exchange on London, 
which on Saturday had been 4.88, on Monday afternoon stood 
at 4.91 ; gold shipments were rushed, and the Cable Company 
announced that messages to or through Austria must be in plain 
English, French, German or Italian, those for Hungary in 
Hungarian, and that commercial marks, abbreviations, military 
news would not be admitted in private dispatches. German and 
Austrian reservists now rushed to the consulates, to which 'they 
had been formally called by the consuls. When news came of 
the Austrian declaration of war on Serbia, foreign securities 
fell from five to twenty points, the stock exchanges at Montreal 
and Toronto closed, stocks fell three points on the New York 
Exchange, wheat rose nine cents a bushel, corn five cents and 
cotton declined nearly two dollars a bale. The Austrian con- 
suls now announced that the Emperor liad granted amnesty to 
deserters and to those who by absence had avoided military 
service provided they would return to the colors. 

On the thirtieth, when it was known that Germany had sent 
an ultimatum to Russia, stocks in New York fell from six to 
seventeen points, over 1,300,000 shares were thrown on the 
market, and charterers began to fear that a general war would 
prevent vessels leaving port. Their fears were well founded 
for, on the thirty-first, the President Grant of the Hamburg- 
American line, which sailed on the thirtieth, was recalled by 
wireless, the Amerika was held at Boston, the Vaterland at 
New York and the Imperator at Hamburg, and the North-Ger- 
man Lloyd announced that none of their vessels would leave 
New York on Saturday, August 1. That day the stock ex- 
changes over all our country, indeed the world over, closed. 
Only the Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Produce 
Exchange, both dealing in food products, remained open. At 
Washington it was announced that steps to organize the Federal 
Reserve Board would be taken at once, that $500,000,000 emer- 
gency currency would be made available at National Banks, and 



THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 13 

an amendment to the Aldrich-Vreeland currency act was rushed 
through the Senate under a supervision of the rules. | 

j Commerce with Europe now almost ceased. The Cunard 
Line steamships Lusitania and Franconia were held at New 
York, Belgian and Italian liners did not leave port, the Mauri- 
tania, which left England August 1 and knew nothing of the 
war, was warned when off Sable Island and put into Halifax, 
and the Crown Princess Cecilie with several million dollars in 
gold on board, bound for Hamburg, was recalled by wireless and 
took refuge at Bar Harbor. Everything imported, dye stuffs, 
chemicals, medicines, gloves from Germany, glassware, earthen- 
ware, malt liquors from Austria, mackerel from Norway, cheese 
from Holland, macaroni from Italy, rose in price, and what was 
quite as bad food produced at home began to do the same with- 
out any just cause whatever. Flour rose a dollar a barrel; meat 
from two to eight cents a pound ; sugar two cents a pound ; and 
the prices of butter, eggs and vegetables went higher and higher 
daily. In New York the Mayor appointed a Citizens' Com- 
mittee to investigate, ordered the police to help in compiling 
tables showing the cost of food at that time and in August, 
1913 ; and appealed to housewives to send to the District Attor- 
ney lists of prices they paid in market. I 
I The President asked the Attorney General to report if crim- 
inal prosecutions were possible. The rapid and unwarranted 
increase in the prices of foodstuffs in this country, under the 
pretext of conditions in Europe, he said, was so serious and vital 
a matter that he took the liberty of calling the attention of the 
Attorney General to it. He would be glad to know if under 
existing law the Department of Justice could take action. The 
Attorney General answered that ''the head of our special 
agents" the country over, and the District Attorneys had been 
instructed to investigate and collect facts. They reported that 
over all the country there had been an unjustifiable rise in the 
prices of food, but found nothing on which to base a prose- 
cution. The Executive Committee of the Retail Grocers' Asso- 
ciation in Philadelphia urged that all Boards of Trade where 
options for speculative purposes were bought and sold be closed, 
and requested the President to stop export of foods to warring 
countries. 



14 'rilK UNITKl) STAIKS IN THK WORM) WAR 

KennHlios of all sorts wvvv suggostcd, aiuciul the Coustitu- 
tion and iiivc Congress power to lay an export tax; give the 
President power to stop the export of foodstulfs and clothing 
when sueli exportation would incri^ise cost at home; form non- 
nieat-eating ehibs. Some blanicd the meat jiackers; they blamed 
the farmers who, thev said, acting on the advice of the Depart- 
ment of Agricnltnre not to shij) wheat because of the shortage of 
ships, were also holding hack cattle. 

Abroad, onr (•(uiiilrynicii, hotli in and out of the w'ar zone, 
were, many of them, in great distress. 'Tiiose who had retnrn 
tickets on the (!iM-nian lines, found them worthless. Letters of 
credit, and travi'lers' chei'ks in Ciornuuiy, b'rance, Bi>lgium, 
Switzerland, and i\)r the time being in London, were reduced to 
waste paper. Money was not to he had. iMobilization made 
escape from these conntries almost impossibl(\ In Switzerland, 
train service on all four borders was suspended. In Paris a 
panic prevailed. The possible closing of many of the hotels 
because of the calling of tlu' servants to the colors, the inability 
to get money, the fear that the gr(>at liners would be connnan- 
deered caused a tliglit from the city to London. Dense crowds 
stood for hours in the railway station and when the trains were 
ready, hundreds were unable to get aboard. Alicms were re- 
quired to register and many an American stood all day long in 
a line waiting his turn. Vo aid those absolutely Avithout means 
connnittees were formed and met at the American Embassy. 
In Germany no aliens could leave until after mobilization, and 
no money cmild be obtained on letters of credit, bankers', travel- 
ers' or express company checks. Hundreds, however, made 
their way before mobilization began, to Holland. After mobili- 
zation none could leave without passports which nuist be taken 
to the proper (lerman authorities and stamped. One American 
who took his to the Foreign OfHce in Berlin did not receive it 
back. Some months later it was found on the person of a 
(rerman spy named Lody w'ho was shot in the Tower of Lon- 
don. Towards the middle of August, the Dresdener Bank and 
its branches agreed t(^ cash letters of credit and checks of the 
American Express Company, the Bankers Association, Bank- 
ers Trust Company, and International ]\[ercantile Marine in 
small sums, provitled all checks and letters of credit were 



THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 15 

stamped by American consuLs as evidence tliat the owners were 
ically American. Special trains for Americans were finally 
arranged for and the iiiovijinont fivmi Cai-lsbad, Munich and 
Berlin into Holland began. 

The destination of all i-efugees fioiu tiie Continent was Lon- 
don, for very few fonnd accommodation on the Dutch and 
French liners. At T^ondon again tens of thousands were 
stranded. Sliij) after ship was commandeered. Those who lost 
passages on the Gei-man lines could find n(me on the English 
and American, save in the steerage which was all too small to 
satisfy the demand. Monday the second of August was Bank 
TToliday; but that afternoon a moratorium was declared cover- 
ing Tuesday, Wednesday and Tluirsday, and during these days 
all banks and banking houses were closed. The American Ex- 
press Company, however, came nobly to the relief of its patrons 
and while the moratorium was on, cashed checks in small 
amounts, and the Great Eastern Railway, having for years had 
the patronage of Americans to and from the Continent, an- 
nounced tliat it would cash express and travelers' checks to the 
amount of ten pounds per person. 

Meantime such Americans as reached London in the open- 
ing days of August, met and organized at the Waldorf Hotel 
but soon removed to quarters in the Savoy. There a registra- 
tion bureau was opened and in time some 90,000 Americans 
were registered. Committees were appointed to care for those 
without funds, to find respectable quarters for women of limited 
means traveling alone, to aid in securing the passage on such 
steamships as were sailing, to do anything necessary to get 
them home. The great difficulty was to secure transportation. 
Almost every day some liner was taken over by the Government 
and hundreds deprived of passage. More than once travelers 
stood on the landing stage at Liverpool awaiting their ship when 
announcement was made that the Government had taken it. On 
such vessels as sailed no steerage passengers were taken, but 
the steerage quarters were cleaned and fitted with first class 
])edding, the steerage dining room turned into bedrooms and 
the berths sold at the minimum first class cabin rates. All 
passengers became first class and had the run of the ship. 

Meantime effoi-ts were made at home to aid straruled tour- 



16 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

ists by sending gold and providing moans of transportation. 
On July 31 Counselor Lansing of the Department of State 
announced that, if necessary, the Government would charter 
enough ships to bring home every American citizen in Europe, 
and if occasion required Congress would be asked for money to 
relieve those stranded in Europe. Authority was given to dip- 
lomatic officers to exchange embassy checks for letters of credit, 
or travelers' checks, which it was expected would be received by 
railroads, steamship companies and hotels abroad. Friends and 
relatives of those in need it was announced might deposit funds 
with the Department of State and a like amount would then 
be paid in Embassy checks. Americans without funds would 
be loaned money. To meet these requirements the President 
appealed to Congress for an immediate appropriation. Dis- 
turbances in Europe, he said, the interruption of transporta- 
tion, the increase in the cost of living, the difficulty of obtaining 
money from home, had placed a large number of Americans, 
temporarily in Europe, in a serious situation and made it neces- 
sary for the United States to provide transportation and relief. 
He, therefore, asked for $250,000 to bo placed at his disposal 
for the relief, protection and transportation of American citi- 
zens, for personal services and other expenses caused by the 
troubles in Europe. 

Euller information as to the conditions of our countrymen 
made it quite clear that such a sum was much too small and 
August 4 the President asked for an additional sum of 
$2,500,000. It was promptly appropriated and, the Secretary 
of the Treasury said, would be disbursed, by agents of the 
Government, to Americans actually without funds or the means 
of getting them. The cruiser Tennessee was to carry the gold, 
and from five to ten millions more sent by New York bankers 
for the relief of those who had letters of credit or travelers' 
checks. By an Executive Order the duty of arranging for the 
distribution of the $2,500,000 was assigned to a board of relief 
consisting of the Secretaries of State, Treasury, War and the 
Navy, and on August 6 the Tennessee sailed from New York. 
She also carried money sent by bankers, and deposited at the 
Department of State by friends of those in distress in Europe. 

Anxiety as to procuring funds now gave place to anxiety 



THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 17 

as to obtaining transportation. It was generally expected that 
the Government would send battleships and transports. The 
battleships were unfit for such a purpose and the transports 
were widely scattered and time would be required to fit them 
for such a use. Coastwise steamships might be chartered, but 
it was necessary to know if they were really needed. A little 
patience showed that they were not, and in the course of a few 
weeks all were brought home by the transatlantic lines, save a 
few who came in privately chartered vessels and paid exorbitant 
rates for passage. 

By the close of August reports from officials abroad showed 
that means of transportation were rapidly being found. Am- 
bassador Herrick announced that arrangements had been made 
to move 2500 Americans from Switzerland to Paris. The As- 
sistant Secretary of War who sailed on the Tennessee reported 
from Berlin that there were 8000 Americans in that city, 2500 
in Munich, 900 in ]\Iannheim, 750 in Hamburg, 500 in Dres- 
den, 200 in [N'uremberg and less than a hundred in fifteen other 
cities; that trains would be sent daily to Holland and Switzer- 
land, and that plenty of sailings would be made from England 
and Italy. 

While Americans abroad were striving to come home, thou- 
sands of aliens in the United States were just as eager to go 
abroad. As nation after nation was drawn into the war, their 
consuls made haste to call to the colors reservists of their 
armies and navies. All day long on August 3 the consulates 
of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France and even Switzerland 
were thronged with men who came to register. Hundreds of 
others far removed from any consulate, responded by letter or 
telegram. The consul of the ISTetherlands when summoning all 
men members of the army and navy to return announced that 
deserters would be pardoned if they returned to their native 
country. Objection was made by charity workers to the return 
of married men with families lest their wives and children 
become a charge on the community. To this it w^s answered 
that so far as the families of German and Austro-Hungarian re- 
servists were concerned they would be cared for by the patriotic 
and beneficial societies of their countrjanen resident in Amer- 
ica, 



18 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

In response to tlio o;ill French, Germans, Anstro-IInngarians 
e:nne to the eonsul:ite to enrolh ^Fen who conhl not leave 
their work sent th(>ir wives or mothers. All day long hundreds 
stood in line heloro the ecmsnlates. At New York 41,000 were 
said to have enrolled in person or by letter. A large inind)er 
of them from distant plaees were ont of fnnds. Unable to 
go home, nnable to go abroad, they were in great distress. 
]>ritish naval n^servc^s fonnd an ontlet through Canada. Freneh 
reservists were taken by the Freneh transatlantic lines. Ihit 
for Germans, Austrians and Rnssians, there was no means of 
transportatii>n. 

Nevertheless the cpiestion of what would become of their 
families if they did go was taken np by the charity workers in 
l^hiladel})hia and New York. In Philadelphia the Director 
of Health and Charities invited the large employers of foreign 
labor to meet him in conference. He had heard that the con- 
suls of countries at war were practically acting as recruiting 
agents and promising the men transportation and the care of 
their families by their respective govei"nments. He did not 
think it right that heads of families should go leaving tluMr 
wives and children to become dependent on charity organiza- 
tions. 

The President now issued his proclamation of neutrality. 

After some general statements the President summed up 
briefly the laws and principles of international law which per- 
sons living in onr country were bound to obey in order to pre- 
serve neutrality. They were charged not to accept a conunis- 
sion to serve, one belligerent, on land or sea, against the other 
belligerent; they were not to enlist or enter the service of cither 
bidligerent nor hire or retain any person to enlist, or go beyond 
the- limits of the United States to enlist or enter the service of 
either belligerent as a soldier, marine, or seaman on any armed 
vessel. They were not to Ht ont or arm, nor procure to be 
fitted out and armed, nor knowingly be concerned in the fitting 
out and arming of any ship or vessel to be used in the service 
of either belligerent. They were not to increase, nor procure 
to be increased, nor be knowingly concerned in increasing or 
augmenting the force of any shij) of war, cruiser, or armed 
v(>ssel belonging to either belligerent or to the subjects of either 



THE OPENING OF THE WOULD WAR 19 

of them, by adding to tlio number of guns, or changing those on 
board for others of larger caliber, or by adding any equipment 
solely for use in war. They were not to begin, or set afoot, or 
provide or prepare the means for any military expedition to be 
carried on from the territory of the United States against the 
territories or dominions of either of the belligerents. 

The Doutrality statutes thus summarized in the proclama- 
tion aro historic and the result of our long experience as a 
neutral power. 

"These arc, in concise form," says ^Ir. James Brown Scott,^^ 
"the neutrality statutes of the United States, which had been 
found necessary in Washington's Administration and in that of 
his immediate successor to preserve the neutral rights of the 
United States against violation by belligerents, and to secure 
the observance of the neutral duties of the United States in 
behalf of belligerents. lieissued with slight modifications in 
1818 and incorporated in the Statutes at Large in 1874, they 
reappear in the so-called Penal Code of the United States in 
1000 with but trifling changes of phraseology." Our coun- 
try "was the first country to feel the need of a code of municipal 
law dealing with the question of neutrality, and it was the first 
to draft such a code. By its conduct as a neutral" when Wash- 
ington was President, "it laid the basis of the modern laws of 
neutrality. . . . The neutrality, therefore, which the United 
States proclaimed in 1014 was not a neutrality born of the 
moment." 

Belligerents, in their turn, were warned in the proclama- 
tion to observe the rights of neutrals. Should one of their ves- 
sels of war come within the waters of the United States to pre- 
pare for hostile operatifms, or watch the war ships or mer- 
chantmen of an eneiny, it would be "regarded as unfriendly and 
offensive and in violation of that neutrality which it is the 
determination of this Government to observe." No armed ves- 
sel (jf a belligerent could stay more than twenty-four hours in 
any of our ports, or use it for warlike purposes or for obtaining 
warlike equipment, or depart, if in port when an enemy vessel 
of any sort left, until four and twenty hours after the enemy 

""A Survey of Inlernaf iorial Relations lictween the United States and 
Germany, U)r4-iyi7;' pp. 44, 45, 



•21) rilK IMlM-.n S'i'ATKS IN THK WORM) WAR 

ship luul passed bovoiul tho jinisdiotion oi tlio Uuitod States. 
!No ship o{ war bi4ongiu<:: to u hellim>ivnt oould lake in any 
supplies save foed and sueh otlier things as were neeossarv fin- 
the subsistenee (d" the erew, and onlv so nnieh eoal as nii<;ht 
be sutHeient io lake tlie vtvssel to the nearest port o( lier own 
country. If provi(hHl with both sail and steam jiower then 
but half the (luanlitv o[' eoal ncvessarv if propc'lKnl by steam 
alone would be t'urnished. When onei^ t'oaled in a port of the 
Unitcvl Statt^s a war vessi>l o( a belligerent emild not ai;ain 
obtain eoal in cuie o( ouv iiorts until after the expiration of 
thriH' months nid(>ss she had meantinu* c>ntin'ed a port of her own 
eiMintry. 

Finally, eiti/.ens o( the Unite<:l States were warned that 
while *'free and full ex]>ression of sympathies in public and 
])rivate is not restricted. " they could not lawfully originate a 
military force in aid of a belligerent; that while they might 
nianufaetnre and sell within the United States arms and nui- 
nitions of war, and other articles known as contraband id" war, 
they could not carry sueh articles upon the high seas for the 
use of a b(dligi>r(Mit, nor transport soldiiu-s and othccrs of a bel- 
ligerent, nor attempt to break any bliH'kade lawfully established, 
without "the risk of hostile capture and the penalties denounced 
by the law of nations in that behalf." 

Special instructions from the Department of Couinierce 
warned Collectors of Customs that ni> vessel was to be cleared 
if she was to be used as a transport for reservists or recruits 
for the army of a belligerent. 

European connnerce for the time being was paralyzed. 
Total or partial suspensiini oi ocean tratlic by some lines; the 
refusal of bankers to accept bills of lading; high premiums for 
marine insurance, in some cases 20 per cent; with German and 
Austrian tonmige driven from the sea ; with English and French 
tonnage greatly reduced and uo American merchant marine 
wortli mentioning, the export of our goods, wares, merchandise 
and foodstuffs became almost impossible. Sailors, firemen, 
cooks, stewards, longshoremen, teamsters were thrown out of 
work, stills and factories of many sorts which manufactured 
for the export trade were forced to put their employees on part 
time. Shipment of grain almost ceased, while the owners 



THE orKxixr; oi" thk world war 21 

awaited ^laruntcos of the .safety of vessels from war risks. So 
grave was tlie situation }>eeon)ing tliat the Seeretary of the 
Treasury calletJ a eonfereriee at Washington of shippers and 
cxelian^'e hankftrs, the one to pi'ovide ships for carrying grain 
and cotton; the otlier to restore tfie market for foreign hills of 
exchange, 'ihe conference ni-ged the setting iij> a iMireaii of 
war risk insurance which should assume war risks on Amer- 
ican vessels and American cargoiis shipped therein; and ap- 
pointed committees of experts to give the government advice on 
transportation, fcji'cign exchange anrl war risk insurance. 

1'he suggestion was taken np and made part of the emer- 
gency measures hefore Congress. I^'irst among those was the 
Ship Jtcgistry I>ill under which forf:ign-})uilt ships owned hy 
an American corporation might he admitt(;d to American reg- 
istry and come under the flag. But this wouhl he too slow in 
its working. Time, perhaps much time, must pass hefore any 
considerahle numher of foreign vessels could he acquired. A 
(juick(;r way of j)i-')fnrlng ships to carry the waiting crops to 
Europe was needed, and was thought to have heen found in a 
plan to purchase ocean-going vessels and operate them under 
the direction of a hoard composed of the President, Secretaries 
of War and (J()rr)merce and the Postmaster General, and to 
estahlish a hurcau for government insurance of American ships 
and cargoes against the risks of war. 'J'ho fine ships of the 
Xorth-Germ an- Lloyd and the Hamburg-American lines could 
he purchased and used at once. 

No bill for the purchase of ships passed Congress at that 
time; hut the Federal Bureau of War Kisk Insurance was 
cstahlished and $5,000,000 appropriated to he used to insure 
American vessels, freight and cargo, when war-risk insurance 
could not he obtained elsewhere on terms that were reasonable. 

The sudden interruption of ocean tiaffic, the closing of many 
European ports to shipment of goods to our country cut down 
the revenue from imports so rapidly and so much that when 
August ended there was a deficit of ten million dollars. Aware 
that this must continue the President applied to Congress for a 
War Tax. 

During the month of August, he said, the revenue collected 
from customs duties fell $10,629, ,538 below that for the same 



22 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

montli of 1913. Should the rate of decrease go on during the 
remainder of the fiscal year, it would amount to $50,000,000 
or possibly $100,000,000. This loss was due not to the recent 
reductions in duties, he held, hut to the decrease in importa- 
tions, caused by war conditions in the industrial areas in 
Europe. Heavy as was the deficit it should be met, and 
promptly, not by borrowing, not by issuing bonds, but by taxa- 
tion. He asked therefore that $100,000,000 be raised by inter- 
nal taxes, and Congress in October enacted the War Revenue 
Act to add $54,000,000 to the revenue. It was to expire on the 
last day of December, 1915. 



CHAPTER II 

PKO-GERMAlSr PROPAGANDA BELGIAN- RELIEF 

That the people of the United States should be indifferent 
to the course of events in Europe was impossible. Their neutral 
rights, their sympathies, their prejudices; indignation over the 
brutal invasion of Belgium ; admiration for the heroism of the 
Belgian people ; hatred of England ; good will towards Eng- 
land ; grateful remembrance for French support in the War for 
Independence, detestation of German militarism, love for the 
Fatherland, ties of blood, race, nationality, a hundred motives 
forced them to take sides. 

As the greatest of neutrals the attitude that might be taken 
l)v the people and Government of the United States was a mat- 
ter of much concern to all the belligerents and to none more 
than to Germany. 

Xo sooner, therefore, was the war fairly under way than 
Germans, Gei-man-Americans and pro-German citizens began 
the most remarkable propaganda ever made by a belligerent and 
its supporters to influence opinion in a neutral country. The 
press, the platform, and the mails were used without stint. In- 
deed a special agent, Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, late Colonial 
Secretary of the German Empire, was sent to do his part in the 
effort to convince Americans of the justice of the German 
cause. A Press Bureau was established at New York from 
which came pamphlets and leaflets, and "The Fatherland, a 
weekly devoted to Fair-Play for Germany and Austria-Hun- 
gary." Professors in many Universities, men who had lived in 
Germany, and had studied at her Universities, while declaring 
themselves devoted Americans, wrote and labored for the Ger- 
man cause. The German language press sided with the Father- 
land. The English languages press though overwhelmingly pro- 
ally, opened its columns to the expression of opinions by both 
sides. 

23 



24 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Who began the war, was hotly debated. Friends of the 
Allies laid the blame on Germany and denounced her for vio- 
lating the neutrality of Belgium. Pro-Germans defended the 
invasion of Belgium, maintained that France was the first to do 
so, charged Great Britain with responsibility for the war and 
declared that her defense of Belgian neutrality was a mere 
pretense. So warm did the discussion become that August 18 
the President appealed to his "fellow countrymen," to be neu- 
tral in speech as well as in action. He supposed, he said, that 
every thoughtful man in America had asked himself what effect 
the war would have on the United States. That depended on 
what American citizens said and did. All who loved America 
would act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, of im- 
partiality, fairness and friendliness toward all concerned. But 
the spirit of the nation would largely depend on what was said 
at public meetings, in newspapers and magazines, by what was 
uttered by ministers from the pulpit and by men on the streets. 
Our people were drawn from the nations at war. It was but 
natural that there should be the utmost variety of sympathy 
and desire as to the issues of the conflict. He ventured there- 
fore to speak a word of warning against partisanship, against 
taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact as well 
as in name. The people must be impartial in thought as well as 
in action. Our country must show herself tit beyond others to 
exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of 
self-control, neither sitting in judgment upon others, nor dis- 
turbed in her counsels, free to do what is honest, and truly ser- 
viceable for the peace of the world. 

The appeal, coming at the time it did, was by many looked 
on as a reply to one made to the President by the N^ational 
German-American Alliance, through its President, Dr. J. C. 
Hexamer, to use his good offices with Japan. That country, 
about to enter the war, had sent an ultimatum to Germany de- 
manding the withdrawal of her armed ships from the eastern 
seas and the surrender of Kiao-Chow. This act was now used 
by pro-Germans to frighten the people of the United States. 
Having seized Kiao-Chow, the next objective point of Japan, 
it was said, will be Samoa. 

Now Samoa, it was pointed out, is but six days sail from 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 25 

ports in Japan and almost in line with Honolulu, in which were 
living a hundred thousand Japanese, and Honolulu is but 
five days sail from San Francisco. With Samoa in her hands 
and a hundred thousand of her subjects on the island and an- 
other hundred thousand in Honolulu Japan would be ready 
for an attack on any power she pleased. Why not the United 
States ? There was more behind her act than the mere seizure 
of the leased possessions of Germany in China. 

Hoping to involve the United States in the issue the 
National German-American Alliance appealed to President 
Wilson *'to plead with the Government of Japan," in the name 
"of humanity, civilization and universal peace to refrain from 
carrying the w^ar into the Far East by demanding from Ger- 
many to abandon all her political and commercial interests in 
China." She should be fair and submit any grievances against 
Germany to the Hague Peace Tribunal. Dr. Hexamer like- 
wise appealed to the press to "frown down upon the act of 
Japan in throwing herself into the European conflict." Japan 
menaced no other nation as she did the United States, he said. 
Her purpose was to acquire the Caroline Islands, then possibly 
Samoa and finally Hawaii. 

At a meeting of Irish-ISTationalists in Philadelphia a speaker 
declared England had ever been the bitter enemy of Ireland, 
and that Redmond had assumed too much, when he pledged 
Ireland to fight Germany, and resolutions friendly to Germany 
were adopted: "We, the Irish-Nationalists of Philadelphia," 
said one, "recognize in this conflict that Germany is the friend 
of Ireland, and that she is attacked from behind by Ireland's 
old enemy, England." "We repudiate the so-called leaders of 
our race who without warrant pledged Irish courage to the 
cause of the assassin and the coward." "To Ireland we look 
to hope for German victory over the power that has destroyed 
our own country." "We pledge ourselves to do all in our power 
to aid a friendly people to repel their enemies who are also 
ours, and to use every effort to bring Irishmen and Germans 
together to fight for a common cause, the national welfare of 
Germany and the national existence of Ireland." 

The ministers of German churches in Philadelphia called 
a meeting at the Zion German Lutheran Church and expressed 



20' THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

their pro-German views. Resolutions presented by the min- 
isters "protested against the censorship by our government of 
German-American wireless stations. Any so-called censorship 
of the cables of England and her allies is a farce, as the dis- 
patches can readily bo introduced into our country through 
Canada." 

Kesolutions adopted by those in the pews set forth that: 
"We, German- Americans,'" protest "against the common 
calumnies against the head of a nation friendly to us, as degrad- 
ing the entire American people" ; brand as false the statement 
"that Germany and its Emperor have sought and forced this 
war" ; demand "no favor for Germany from the English- Amer- 
ican press," but "protest against all articles which tend to incite 
and seek to create public sentiment against Germany. What 
we ask is neutrality towards all warring nations." 

The Kaiser, meanwhile, on September 7, protested to the 
President against the conduct of the Allies. "After the cap- 
ture of the French fort of Longwy my troops found in that 
place thousands of dumdum bullets which had been manufac- 
tured in special works by the French Government. Such bul- 
lets were found not only on French killed and wounded, but 
also on English troops. . . . 

"I solemnly protest to you against the way in which this 
war is being waged by our opponents, whose methods are mak- 
ing it one of the most barbarous in history. Besides the use 
of these awful weapons, the Belgian Government openly in- 
cited the civil population to participate in fighting, and has for 
a long time carefully organized their resistance. The cruelties 
practiced in this guerrilla warfare, even by women and priests, 
towards wounded soldiers, and doctors and hospital nurses 
(physicians were killed and lazarets fired on) were such that 
eventually my generals were compelled to adopt the strongest 
measures to punish the guilty and frighten the bloodthirsty 
population from continuing their shameful deeds. 

"Some villages and even the old town of Louvain, with the 
exception of its beautiful town hall, had to be destroyed for 
the protection of my troops. 

"My heart bleeds when I see such measures inevitable and 
when I think of the many innocent people who have lost their 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 27 

houses and property as a result of the misdeeds of the guilty." 

No sooner did President Poincare hear of this protest than 
he too, addressed President Wilson. He had been informed, he 
said, that the German Government was attempting to abuse His 
Excellency's good faith by alleging that dumdum bullets were 
made in French State workshops and used by French soldiers. 
The calumny was nothing but "an audacious attempt to reverse 
the roles." Germany since the beginning of the war had used 
dumdum bullets and had daily violated the law of nations. 
On August 18, and on several occasions since, he had reported 
crimes. Germany, aware of these protests, "was trying to de- 
ceive and make use of pretexts and lies in order to indulge in 
further acts of barbaritv in the name of rio-ht." 

September 16 President Wilson answered the protest from 
the Kaiser. He was honored that the Emperor should have 
turned to him "for an impartial judgment as the representative 
of a people truly disinterested as respects the present war and 
truly desirous of knowing and accepting the truth." The 
Kaiser he was sure would not expect him "to say more." "It 
would be unwise, it would be premature, for a single Govern- 
ment ; however fortunately separated from the present struggle, 
it would even be inconsistent with the neutral position of any 
nation, which like this, has no part in the contest, to favor or 
express a final judgment." 

That same day Belgium made her protests. For weeks past 
horrid stories of atrocities perpetrated by the Germans on the 
people of Belgium had come pouring in from abroad. The 
German armies had swept across Belgium and France almost 
to the gates of Paris. There they had been checked. The 
battle of the Marne had been fought and the Germans driven 
northward to the St. Quentin, Noyon, Laon line. 

Ever}^vhere their path had been marked by murder, rapine, 
brutality and crime. The details of what was done need not 
be retold. The whole world knows it. In every village, town 
and little city men, women and children were shot for no of- 
fense whatever, houses and shops were looted and burned, 
churches were destroyed, farmsteads set on fire, peasants shot 
in the fields, and livestock carried away. 

At Louvain the Germans, asserting they had been fired on 



28 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

by civilians, burned a large part of the city, some of the 
University buildings and the great library and shot scores of 
the inhabitants and carried hundreds into captivity. At 
Aerschot, under the pretext that the son of the burgomaster, a 
lad of fifteen, had killed a German officer, one hundred and fifty 
citizens were shot and the town pillaged and almost destroyed. 
Fifteen houses were burned after the people had fled from 
Rotselaer. Vise and a score of towns and hamlets met a like 
fate. 

As the reports of these atrocities became known in our 
country, an outburst of astonishment and indignation followed. 
That the armies of a people such as the Germans were believed 
to be should wantonly destroy historic monuments, masterpieces 
of architecture, works of art and take the lives of noncom- 
batants was at first almost unbelievable. Indeed they were 
indignantly denied or defended by the German language press 
and devoted friends of Germany. They were, it was said, of 
English origin, they came from Paris, were false and designed 
to prejudice America. Five American newspaper correspond- 
ents who followed the German armies as they drove through 
Belgium joined in a letter of denial and sent it by wireless 
from Brussels to Berlin for transmission to their newspapers. 
According to their account ^ they had spent two weeks follow- 
ing the troops a hundred miles, and could not report a single 
unprovoked instance. Stories of atrocities were groundless as 
far as they knew. They could not confirm one instance of mis- 
treatment of prisoners or noncombatants. This, they said, was 
true of Louvain, Brussels, Luneville and Nantes. Many rumors 
when investigated they had found groundless. 

A very different story came from the Belgians. No sooner 
had the Germans entered Belgium and begun the work of ter- 
rorizing the people than the Minister of Justice appointed a 
Commission of Inquiry to gather and examine all the facts 
relating to violations of the law of nations, the rights of prop- 
erty and destruction of human life. 

The Commission met in Brussels, but after the removal of 

'Mr. Roger Lewis of the Associated Press; jMr. Irvin S. Cobb of the 
Philadelphia Ledger j Mr. Harry Hause of the Chicago Daily News; Mr. 
J. O'Donnell Bennet and Mr. John T. McCutcheon of the Chicago Tribune. 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 29 

the Government to Antwerp on August 18, communication 
with Brussels ended and no reports came from the Commis- 
sion, Thereupon the Minister of Justice appointed a sub- 
commission to carry on the work in Antwerp, and from it by 
the end of August came a report telling how Germany had 
violated the neutrality of Belgium, how in disregard of the 
Hague Eules of 1907, her aeroplanes and dirigibles dropped 
bombs on towns that were undefended and on fortified places 
neither besieged nor invested as Malines, Heyst-op-din-Berg, 
Louvain, ^N^amur, Antwerp; how the people were massacred 
at Aerschot, and how buildings were burned, homes looted and 
people killed in Liege, Louvain, Hersselt. 

This report the King of the Belgians placed in the hands of 
a Special Envoy and sent him, attended by men of distinction, 
to deliver it to President Wilson as a protest against the wrongs 
inflicted on the people of Belgium.^ 

The Mission was received on September 16, an address 
was made, the document delivered, and a reply made by the 
President. In the course of it he said: 

"I am honored that your King should have turned to me in time 
of distress as to one who would wish on behalf of the people he 
represents to consider the claims to the impartial sympathy of man- 
kind of a nation which deems itself wronged. 

"I thank you for the document you have put in my hands. . . . 
It shall have my most attentive perusal and my most thoughtful 
consideration. 

"You will, I am sure, not expect me to say more. ... It would 
be unwise, it would be premature, for a single government, however 
fortunately separated from the present struggle, it would be incon- 
sistent with the neutral position of any nation which like this has 
no part in the contest, to form a final judgment." 

Ambassador von Bernstorff officially informed the State De- 
partment that the statement made by the Belgian Commission 
did not contain one word of truth. A dispatch from Berlin in- 
formed him that because of an attack from Antwerp the Ger- 
man garrison went forth to meet the enemy, leaving one bat- 
talion in Louvain ; that the priests thinking this meant retreat 
gave arms to the citizens who suddenly began to shoot out of 
'"The Case of Belgium in the Present War, 1914." 



so THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

windows ; that a fight of twenty-five hours followed ; that parts 
of Louvain were burned, and civilians with arms were killed. 
The German army, the dispatch said, "protested against the 
news sent out by enemies about the cruelty of German warfare. 
The German troops had to take severe measures sometimes when 
pi-ovoked, the population making treacherous attacks upon them 
and bestial atrocities against the wounded. . . . The German 
soldier is not an incendiary nor pillager." 

When the Germans were driven from Rheims in Septem- 
ber, and the French came in, the retiring enemy turned their 
guns upon the cathedral. Against this act of vandalism the 
French Government, on September 21, made a formal pro- 
test to all neutral nations, and sent the American architect, 
Mr. Whitney Warren, to report on the damage done. Even 
the German Government at first seemed ashamed, and Am- 
bassador von Bernstorff entered an official disclaimer at Wash- 
ington and in its name denied that German artillery had pur- 
posely destroyed important buildings in Rheims, and that or- 
ders were given to spare the cathedral by all means. The report 
of Mr. Warren proved the destruction was deliberate. 

Despite the testimony collected by the Belgian Commission 
and published in their report, pro-Germans denied that such 
atrocities had been committed and declared that what had been 
done was fully justified. The daily lamentations here over the 
atrocities, the barbarities of the Germans are dictated by Eng- 
lish hypocrisy, said the Staats-Zeitung, published in New York. 
Americans who to-day profess to be so indignant over the bom- 
bardment of Rheims have plainly forgotten Sherman's March 
to the Sea. Atrocities ! Enough of the whining of English 
hypocrisy, because something beautiful has been destroyed. A 
Philadelphia German newspaper asserted that the Belgian Com- 
mittee was being used by England to raise a cry against Ger- 
many. It had falsely accused German soldiers and the German 
army of gross infractions of the rules of civilized warfare and 
the rights of civilians. German wounded were mutilated by 
Belgian hyenas on the battlefield. Civilian populations had 
taken up arms and fired on the Germans from behind. The 
partial destruction of Louvain was to be attributed to an or- 
ganized attack on the Germans by the civilians. Dr. Kraus- 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 31 

kopf of Philadelpliia knew that women and noncombatants had 
cut off the ears and noses and gouged out the eyes of wounded 
defenseless Germans. 

Scarcely had the Belgians presented their case to the Presi- 
dent when the case of Germany was set forth in a pamphlet 
entitled: "The Truth About Germany: Facts About the War." 
It was addressed especially to our countrymen, had been writ- 
ten in Germany and the correctness of its statements was 
vouched for by an Honorary Committee of four and thirty Ger- 
mans of distinction. In the preface Dr. John W. Burgess of 
Columbia University vouched for them. Seventeen he had 
known for years. With six he had labored as a colleague in 
University work. "They are the salt of the earth! . . . I^o 
statement was ever issued which was vouched for by more solid, 
intelligent and conscientious people. Its correctness, complete- 
ness and veracity cannot be doubted." One article took up the 
question who was responsible for the war and laid the blame on 
England. Another reminded us of what England had done in 
the Civil War. Others explained mobilization and the organi- 
zation of the German army and navy. Among the statements 
vouched for by the Honorary Committee are some as unbeliev- 
able as any that came out of Belgium. Americans were told 
"that the eyes of wounded German soldiers in Belgium were 
gouged out, and their ears and noses cut off ; that surgeons and 
persons carrying the wounded were shot at from houses"; 
that "German women were dragged naked through the streets 
(of Antwerp) and shot to death before the eyes of the police 
and the militia" and that "children were thrown from the win- 
dows of German homes into the streets and their limbs were 
broken." 

In the light of what we now know of the activities of 
German spies and agents in our country against France and 
Great Britain, and finally against us while still at peace with 
Germany this complaint against espionage in Germany is worth 
citing. "This espionage," said the writer, "was directed from 
central points in foreign countries." "Kepeatedly it appeared 
that the foreign embassies and Consulates in Germany assisted 
in this work." "This espionage system was supported with 
large funds." But the writer did not then know of the work 



32 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

to be carried on in our country by Ambassador von Bernstorff, 
by von Papen, Captain Boy-Ed, Dumba and a host of others. 
The pamphlet closed with "an appeal to American 
Friends" ; but the appeal was made on the low plane of profit 
and loss. 

"The American citizen who is now leaving Europe, which has 
been turned into an enormous miHtary camp, may consider himself 
fortunate that he will soon be able to set foot in the new world where 
he will be enabled again to take up his business pursuits. . . . But 
the American will feel the effects of the fate of the old world. . . . He 
will be affected by every victory and defeat, just as by the sun and 
rain in his own country. He will doubtless remember that of all 
European countries, Germany is the best customer of the United 
States, from which she purchases yearly over one billion marks in 
cotton, food, metal and technical products. If Germany is economi- 
cally ruined, which is the wish of Russia, France and England and all 
the allied friends of wretched Serbia, it would mean the loss of a 
heavy buyer to America which could not easily be made good." . . . 
In forty-three years "England, France and Russia had not been able 
to increase their foreign trade three times, while Germany and the 
United States have increased theirs five times. The trade of Germany 
and the United States has increased from 7.6 to 38 billion marks. 
If these figures show nothing else, they show on which side the 
American sympathy will be." 

That such information as Germany wished the people of the 
United States to have, might be spread as far and as wide as 
possible the Oberburgermeister of Berlin appealed to the Mayor 
of N"ew York to act as news agent. "The Fatherland," said he, 
"has the greatest possible concern that during the war in which 
it is fighting for life, neutral countries may not be informed 
of events of the war solely by the press of the enemy." The 
municipal administration of Berlin regarded it as a duty to 
make the reports of the German press on the progress of the 
war accessible to the authorities and citizens of the great 
municipalities of neutral states. The German newspapers regu- 
larly published reports from General Headquarters on the state 
of affairs. This information which came, plain and unadorned, 
from an uncontaminated source would give to the world trust- 
worthy and clear accounts of events. He would be greatly 
obliged, therefore, if the Mayor would be willing to receive the 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 33 

reports and send them to the sources of public information in 
the city, and if possible bring them to the knowledge of the 
citizens by having them exposed in the reading rooms, or in 
any other suitable manner. 

Ninety-three German professors and representatives of 
science and art now appealed "To the Civilized World" against 
"the lies and calumnies with which our enemies are endeavor- 
ing to stain the honor of Germany in her hard struggle for 
existence." "It is not true that Germany caused the war." 
"Neither the people, the government, nor the Kaiser wanted 
war." Not until "a numerical superiority which had been ly- 
ing in wait on the frontier assailed us did the whole nation rise 
to a man." 

"It is not true" that Germany "trespassed in neutral Bel- 
gium." "It is not true that the life and property of a single 
Belgian citizen was injured by our soldiers without the bit- 
terest self-defense made it necessary." "It is not true that our 
troops treated Louvain brutally." "It is not true that our war- 
fare pays no respect to international law." "It is not true 
that the combat against our so-called militarism is not a combat 
against our civilization, as our enemies hypocritically pretend 
it is. Were it not for German militarism German civilization 
would long since have been extinguished." 

"We cannot wrest the poisonous weapon — the lie — out of 
the hands of our enemies. All we can do is to proclaim to all 
the world that our enemies are giving false witness against 
us." 

"Have faith in us ! Believe that we shall carry on the war 
to the end as a civilized nation." 

Twenty-two German Universities made an appeal, and 
twenty English scholars answered that of the German profes- 
sors and men of science. Ludwig Fulda, well known as a 
writer of poetry and prose, addressed an open letter "To Amer- 
icans from a German Friend." Fifty-three British authors 
came to the defense of England. Bernard Shaw's "Common 
Sense About the War" was published in the New York Times, 
and was vigorously attacked in the same journal by Arnold 
Bennett. After the "White Papers" of Great Britain and Ger- 
many, the pamphlets containing the correspondence that passed 



34 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

between them and the Powers from the close of July until the 
declarations of war, were made public, ''A German Review of 
the Evidence" was written in Germany and sent to Dr. Bernard 
Dernburg- who had it translated and published in the New 
York Times. 

From Dr. Dernburg came a series of articles afterward col- 
lected and published in a pamphlet "Search-Lights on the 
War." One, "Germany and England — The Real Issue," ap- 
peared in the Saturday Evening Post; another, "Germany and 
the Powers," in the North American Revieiv; another, "Ger- 
many's Food Supply," in the Review of Reviews, and another, 
"When Germany Wins," in the hidependent with a hearty en- 
dorsement by the editor. "We hear a great deal about what 
England and France are fighting for," said the editor. "We 
have heard very little — except from English sources — about 
what Germany is fighting for. Here is a chance to read the 
other side. 

"Dr. Dernburg stands for what we Americans most admire 
in modern Germany, its industries, its commerce, its technical 
schools and its efficient organization. . . . He is now in the 
country on a most important mission. As a man thoroughly 
familiar with American history and politics as well as finance 
he understands our point of view and can interpret to us the 
point of view of his own country." 

And now the diplomatic representatives of foreign coun- 
tries, resident in the United States, began to talk. 

Sir Lionel Garden, Minister to Mexico, when about to leave 
the United States for England, denounced the Government be- 
cause it withdrew the troops from Vera Cruz. Baron Wilhelm 
von Schoen, attached to the German Embassy at Tokio until 
Japan entered the war, arrived in Washington and in an inter- 
view sought to excite bad feelings towards Japan. There feel- 
ing against the United States, he said, was intense. Should 
Japan and England be victorious, which he did not believe 
could happen, the danger to the United States would be great. 
Japan wanted war. His meaning plainly was that the United 
States would do well to side with Germany. 

The great offender was the Ambassador from Turkey, A. 
Rustem Bey. His country had not yet entered the war. That 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 35 

she would do so no one doubted and a report was current that 
Great Britain had suggested that as a massacre of Christians 
was likely, the United States should send warships to Turkish 
waters. Concerning this the Ambassador in an interview said 
Great Britain, following in the footsteps of France, had agitated 
before the eyes of the United States the specter of a massacre 
of Christians in Turkey, and had made this a pretext for re- 
questing the United States to send warships to Turkish ports. 
Because many newspapers were siding with Great Britain and 
France he would say that ''the thought of lynchings which occur 
daily in the United States, and the memory of the water cure 
in the Philippines should make them chary of attacking Turkey 
in connection with acts of savagery committed by her under 
provocation." Why should the United States, not one of whose 
citizens had ever suffered injury in Turkey, "send warships to 
the ports of that country with the result that it would only cause 
irritation against her, and could under no circumstances act 
as a check ?" Bombard Smyrna and Beyreuth ? "And what 
more could she do ? Nothing ! Besides that would be enough 
to mean war. Do the people of the United States want war ?" 

For these remarks von Schoen and Rustem Bey might very 
properly have been required to leave the country. But the ad- 
ministration was long suifering. The attention of von Bern- 
storif was called to the utterances of von Schoen, then attached 
to the German Embassy at Washington; the offender called 
at the Department of State and the incident was settled. Rus- 
tem Bey would neither explain nor retract, and, passing by the 
Secretary of State, he called on the President and announced 
that he had asked leave of absence and shortly thereafter left 
our country not to return. 

"No sooner had Congress assembled in December than the 
German- Americans turned their attention to munitions of war, 
and sought to secure legislation to prevent the export of guns, 
powder, shrapnel and shells from the United States to any of 
the belligerents. As matters then stood Germany was cut off 
from such supplies from our country. Therefore they held it 
was unneutral to sell munitions of war to the Allies. ,In hope 
of arousing public sympathy for Germany resolutions were 
offered in Congress and bills were introduced to prohibit the 



S6 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

sale of arms and anununition for export during the war ; to for- 
bid the furnishing of war materials to belligerent nations ; and 
thousands of telegrams were sent to Senators and Representa- 
tives urging them to vote for one or the other of the bills. At- 
tempts were made to even coerce some members, and petitions, 
chiefly from the middle western part of our country, were pre- 
sented by scores. One from a meeting of citizens of Enderlin, 
North Dakota, presented on January 17, was, save for the 
preamble, word for word the same as the resolutions adopted 
on January 11 by the Philadelphia Branch of the National 
German- American Alliance. Ten nations, the preamble to the 
Enderlin resolutions said, were drawing war supplies from the 
United States. This tended to increase the loss of life, the 
destruction of property, and prolong the war. As a people we 
prayed for peace ; but as a nation we helped on the war by 
emptying our private arsenals and war supplies "onto the bat- 
tlefields of Europe." Our Government had proclaimed strict 
neutrality. Yet, when we offer military supplies to any nation 
that chooses to buy, and do so knowing that for a hundred years 
England by her supremacy on the seas is master of all contra- 
band goods, we are pursuing a course which diverges so far 
from strict neutrality that we injure "our ancient friends, Ger- 
many and Austria, by every means in our power." 

Without the halls of Congress Ambassador von Bernstorff 
led the opposition by filing with the Department of State on De- 
cember 5 a protest against dumdum bullets which he charged 
were used by the British and manufactured in the United 
States. It had come to the knowledge of the German Gov- 
ernment, he said, that the British Government had placed, with 
the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, an order for 
"20,000 Riot Guns Models 1897 and 50,000,000 buckshot 
cartridges for the same. The buckshot cartridge contains nine 
shots. 

"The use of those arms and munitions has not yet become 
known to civilized warfare. 

"The Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, 
Conn., on October 20 took out through Frank O. Hoagland, the 
enclosed patent for the manufacture of a 'Mushroom Bullet.' 

"According to information, the accuracy of which is not to 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 37 

be doubted, 8,000,000 of those cartridges have been delivered 
to Canada since October of this year by the Union Metallic 
Cartridge Company for the armament of the British Army. 
Cartridges made by that process, although cut through, cannot 
be distinguished, by their external appearance, from the regular 
full jacketed cartridges. The soldiers in whose hands this kind 
of ammunition is placed by the British Government are not in 
position to know that they are firing dumdum bullets. 

"Whether the use of mushroom bullets is contrary to the 
law of nations is open to discussion." 

The letter of von Bernstorif having appeared in the news- 
papers, the Winchester Company publicly denied that it had 
ever received an order for riot guns and cartridges from the 
British Government or any other government engaged in the 
present war, or had ever sold any such material to the British 
Government or any other government engaged in the present 
war. As to the 8,000,000 mushroom bullets the Remington 
Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Company on December 10 
wrote von Bernstorff that but a little over 117,000 had been 
made and only 109,000 sold, that they were manufactured to 
meet a demand for a better sporting cartridge with a soft nose 
bullet and could not be used in the military rifle of any foreign 
power. 

N'evertheless, Mr. Bryan called on the firms concerned for 
information as to what they had done. The Winchester Arms 
Company, by telegraph, confirmed their public statement. The 
Remington Company sent a copy of their letter to von Bern- 
storff, and gave a list of the names of every person to whom 
mushroom bullets had been sold and the number in each case. 
From this list it appeared they had been sold in lots of from 
20 to 2,000; that only 960 cartridges went to British North 
America, and 100 to British East Africa. 

Could the Ambassador furnish evidence, Mr. Bryan replied, 
that any company was furnishing to the armies in Europe, 
cartridges whose use would be contrary to The Hague Con- 
ventions the President would use his influence to prevent the 
sale of such ammunition, without regard to whether it was 
or was not the duty of the Government, on legal or conventional 
grounds, to take such action. 



38 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

No war mnnitiuns of any consequence had as yet been ex- 
ported. That they wouhl be seemed certain and to prevent it 
the agitation for an embargo was taken up by the German- 
Americans. At a meeting of the Philadelphia Branch of the 
National German- American Alliance on December 11, attended 
by delegates from almost a hundred local societies with a mem- 
bership of some 40,000, it was resolved that it was "the impera- 
tive duty" of Congress to pass such laws as would enable the 
President ^'to lay an embargo upon all contraband of war, 
saving and excepting foodstuffs alone, and thereby withdraw 
from the contending Powers all aid and assistance of this 
Republic." 

The meeting, it was resolved, rejected "as hypocrisy and 
national sacrilege the commercial spirit of the country that is 
answering our supplications for peace by sending the instru- 
ments of destruction and death to the serried armies arrayed 
in struggle through the empires of Europe." As citizens who 
had contributed their full share to American peace, Christianity 
and civilization, they called on all Americans to join in enforc- 
ing that strict American neutrality that would give aid and 
comfort to none of the contending Powers, but would withhold 
American resources from promoting destruction and slaughter 
among the friendly nations of Europe. 

A few days later some two hundred German-Americans met 
in Philadedphia to devise a plan for placing before the author- 
ities in Washington the question, Cannot the shipment of muni- 
tions be stopped ? It was admitted that the meeting had no 
specific facts, but the speakers were sure that questionable sales 
had been made, that the spirit of the neutrality proclamation 
had been violated. It was therefore suggested that British- 
Americans, French-Americans, Kussian-Americans, sons of all 
the belligerent nations be asked to join with German- Americans 
in a call on the Government to stop the shipment of munitions 
of war. Unable to see how this could be done, the meeting 
adjourned to meet again. 

But there were other ways in which the friends of Germany 
did their evil work. Charges of bad faith were made against 
the Government in the press and on the platform. It was 
partial to the Allies, unfriendly to Germany; negligent of its 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 39 

duties as a neutral, submissive while Great Britain searched 
our vessels, seized our copper on its way to neutral ports, cut 
off our commerce and made contraband such articles of com- 
merce as she saw fit. When Congress met members with Ger- 
man-American and pro-German constituents were deluged with 
letters of complaint. 

Taking up these charges. Senator Stone of Missouri sum- 
marized them under twenty heads and January 8, 1915, wrote 
Mr. Bryan: 

As you are aware, frequent complaints or charges are made in 
one form or another through the press that this Government has 
shown partiality to Great Britain, France and Russia as against 
Germany and Austria during the present war between those Powers; 
in addition to which I have received numerous letters to the same 
effect from sympathizers with Germany and Austria. The various 
grounds of these complaints may be summarized and stated in the 
following form. 

The Senator then gave the list of twenty complaints and 
asked '^if not incompatible with the public interests," that he 
be furnished with whatever information the Department has, 
"touching the various points of complaint." 

Mr. Bryan replied on January 24, took up the charges and 
complaints one by one and answered them. 

"1. Freedom of communication by submarine cables, but 
censorship of wireless messages." 

Communication by cable had not been interfered with be- 
cause a belligerent could cut a cable, and they had done so, the 
British having cut the German cable near the Azores, and the 
Germans a British cable near the Fanning Islands. Since 
cables could be destroyed the responsibility fell on the belliger- 
ents and not on neutrals to prevent communication. But it was 
not in the power of belligerents to prevent wireless messages 
going out from a neutral country to a warship on the high seas. 
If such messages directed the movements of warships, or gave 
information of the whereabouts of an enemy's public or private 
ships, the neutral territory was being used as a naval base, to 
allow which was an unneutral act 



40 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

2. "Submission to censorship of mails and in some cases 
to the repeated destruction of American letters found on neutral 
vessels," was another complaint. The Secretary pointed out 
that both Great Britain and Germany had censored private 
letters ; that they had a right to do so, and that the Department 
knew of no evidence that mail had been destroyed on neutral 
ships. 

3. "The search of American vessels for German and Aus- 
trian subjects on the high seas and in territorial waters of a 
belligerent." Two instances had occurred on the high seas, and 
in both cases vigorous representations had been made to the 
offending governments. 

4. "Submission without protest to English violations of 
the rules regarding absolute and conditional contraband, as laid 
down in The Hague Conventions, in international law, in the 
Declaration of London." There is no Hague Convention, the 
Secretary replied, which deals with absolute or conditional 
contraband ; the Declaration of London is not in force, inter- 
national law alone applies, and as to articles of contraband 
there is no general agreement among nations. The United 
States had protested against the seizure and detention by Brit- 
ish authorities of all American ships and cargoes truly destined 
for neutral ports. 

5. "Submission without protest to inclusion of copper in 
the lists of absolute contraband." In every case in which Great 
Britain had seized copper shipments the United States had 
protested. 

6. "Submission without protest to interference with 
American trade to neutral countries in conditional contraband, 
in absolute contraband." The recent note to Great Britain the 
Secretary considered a full answer to this complaint. 

7. "Submission without protest to interruption of trade 
in conditional contraband consigned to private persons in Ger- 
many and Austria, thereby supporting the policy of Great 
Britain to cut off all supplies from Germany and Austria." As 
no American vessel so far as known had attempted to carry 
conditional contraband to Germany or Austria, no complaints 
of seizure had arisen. 

8. "Submission to British interruption of trade in pe- 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 41 

troleum, rubber, leatber, wool, &c.," was another grievance. 
The United States, Mr. Bryan answered, ^'has, thus far, suc- 
cessfully obtained the release in every case of detention or 
seizure" of petroleum "brought to its attention." Eubber had 
been placed on the absolute and leather on the conditional con- 
traband lists by both France and Great Britain. 

9. "1^0 interference with the sale to Great Britain and her 
Allies of arms, annnunition, horses, uniforms, and other muni- 
tions of war, although such sales prolong the war." The 
Executive had no power to prevent such sales. ISTeither inter- 
national law nor municipal statute prohibited a neutral to trade 
in munitions of war. 

10. "ISTo suppression of sale of dumdum bullets to Great 
Britain." On the fifth of December, was the reply, the German 
Ambassador presented a note charging the British Government 
with having ordered from the Winchester Repeating Arms 
Company, 20,000 riot guns. Model 1897, and 50,000,000 buck- 
shot cartridges for use in such guns. The Winchester Company 
publicly, and to the Department, had denied that any such 
order has been given by any government engaged in the present 
war. The German Ambassador had further charged that 
8,000,000 cartridges fitted with mushroom bullets had been 
sold by the Remington Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Com- 
pany to the British Government for its army. The company 
replied that it had sold to private persons 109,000 soft-nosed 
bullets to supply a demand for a better sporting cartridge, that 
they could not be used in the military rifle of any foreign 
power; gave the names of the persons to whom they had been 
sold in lots of from 20 to 5,000, and proved that only 960 had 
gone to British North America, and 100 to British East 
Africa. 

11. "British warships are permitted to lie off Ajnerican 
ports and intercept neutral vessels." Representation had been 
made to the British Government that the presence of war ves- 
sels off New York was offensive, and a like complaint to the 
Japanese Government as to cruisers near Honolulu. In both 
cases they were withdrawn. 

12. "Submission without protest to disregard by Great 
Britain and her Allies of American naturalization certificates, 



42 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

American passports." Bearers of American passports, was the 
answer, have been arrested in all countries at war, and in every 
case the American Government has entered vigorous protest. 
Authentic cases have come to the notice of the Department in 
which American passports have been fraudulently obtained and 
used by certain German subjects. At least four persons of Ger- 
man nationality had been arrested for having obtained Amer- 
ican passports under pretense of American citizenship, and for 
the purpose of returning umnolested to Germany. There were 
indications of a systematic plan for obtaining passports by 
fraud that German officers and reservists might return to Ger- 
many in safety. 

13. ''Change of policy in regard to loans to belligerents." 
War loans were disapproved because inconsistent with the spirit 
of neutrality, and the disapproval affected all countries alike. 
Such loans if offered for popular subscription would be taken 
up chiefly by sympathizers with the country offering the loan. 
Large numbers of the American people might thus become earn- 
est partisans which would result in intense bitterness. 

14. "Submission to arrest of native-born Ajnericans on 
neutral vessels and in British ports and their imprisonment." 
That such cases had occurred was true, but Ajnericans in Ger- 
many had suffered in the same way. Every case known to the 
Department had been investigated and if the facts warranted 
a demand for release, it was made. 

15. "Indifference to confinement of noncombatants in de- 
tention camps in England and France." All the belligerents, 
save Russia and Serbia, had made complaints about noncom- 
batants confined in detention camps, and those for whom the 
Government was acting had asked investigations which had been 
made impartially by representatives of the Government. Their 
reports showed that the treatment of prisoners was as good as 
possible, and there was no more reason for saying they were 
mistreated in one country than in another, or that this Govern- 
ment had been indifferent in the matter. 

16. "Failure to prevent transshipment of British troops 
and war materials across the territory of the United States." 

There were no cases of passage of convoys or troops across 
our territory. The Canadian Government had requested per- 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 43 

mission to ship equipment across Alaska to the sea. The re- 
quest was refused. 

17. "Treatment and final internment of German steam- 
ship Geier and the collier Locksun at Honolulu." The Geier, 
said the Secretary, entered Honolulu on October 15, in an un- 
seaworthy condition, was allowed three weeks to make repairs, 
and while doing so, the Japanese cruiser appeared oif the port, 
and the Geier interned. Soon after the Geier came to the port 
the steamer Locksun arrived. She had delivered coal to the 
Geier at sea and had followed her to Honolulu. By so doing 
she became a tender to the Geier and was interned. 

18. "Unfairness to Germany in rules relative to coaling 
of warships in Panama Canal Zone." 

Regulations for coaling warships, their tenders or colliers 
in the Canal Zone were framed through the collaboration of 
the State, War and N^avy Departments without reference to 
favoritism to belligerents. Fuel may be taken by belligerent 
warships with consent of the canal authorities and in such 
amount as will enable them to reach the nearest neutral port. 
This it had been said is unfair, because Great Britain has col- 
onies near by where her ships may coal while Germany has not. 
The United States therefore should balance the inequality of 
geographical position by refusing to allow any warship of bel- 
ligerents to coal in the Canal Zone during the war. As no 
German warship has sought to obtain coal in this Zone, the 
charge of discrimination rested on a possibility that had not 
materialized. 

10. "Failure to protest against the modifications of the 
Declaration of London by the British Government." 

As the Government of the United States was not now inter- 
ested in the adoption of the Declaration by the belligerents, 
their modifications were of no concern save as they infringed 
the rights of the United States. In so far as they had the De- 
partment had made every effort to obtain redress. 

20. "General unfriendly attitude of Government towards 
Germany and Austria." 

To this charge Mr. Bryan replied: "If any American cit- 
izens, partisans of Germany and Austria-Hungary, feel that 
this administration is acting in a way injurious to the cause 



44. THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

of those countries, this feeling results from the fact that on the 
high seas the German and Austro-Hungarian naval power is 
thus far inferior to the British. It is the business of a bellig- 
erent operating on the high seas, not the duty of a neutral, to 
prevent contraband from reaching an enemy. 

''Those in this country who sympathize with Germany and 
Austria-Hungary appear to assume that some obligation rests 
upon this Government, in the performance of its neutral duty, 
to prevent all trade in contraband, and thus to equalize the dif- 
ference due to the relative naval strength of the belligerents. 
^o such obligation exists ; it would be an unneutral act, an act 
of partiality on the part of the Government to adopt such a 
policy if the Executive had the power to do so. If Germany 
and Austria-Hungary cannot import contraband from this 
country it is not, because of that fact, the duty of the United 
States to close its markets to the Allies. The markets of this 
country are open upon equal terms to all the world, to every 
nation, belligerent or neutral." 

As the German armies swept through Belgium, burning and 
plundering the to\^ais, killing men, women and children, de- 
stroying farms and shooting peasants at work in the fields or 
met with on the roads, the civil population fled before them, 
leaving their all behind. After the fall of Brussels in August 
and Antwerp in October, a million refugees, it was said, had 
found safety in Holland. In one week, in October, seventy 
thousand reached London. Such as remained were reduced to 
dire want. Seizure of cattle by the Germans left them without 
beef, milk, cheese. The shops had no food to sell; the people, 
deprived of their usual occupations, had no money to buy. The 
lace makers of Brussels were out of work. The tapestry fac- 
tories of Mechlin were in ruins. The diamond cutters of Ant- 
werp were scattered. Belgium in times of peace produced but 
a sixth of her food, and drew largely on the United States for 
grain. This was cut off by the war, and the bakeries were shut. 
Liege, Louvain, Namur, Charleroi, Mons, Dinant were so shat- 
tered by shell fire that half the population were without decent 
shelter. 

At Brussels a relief committee was organized, a goodly sum 
of money raised and Mr. Willard Shaler, an ximerican mining 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 45 

engineer just back from the Congo when the war opened, was 
asked to go to London, buy as much food as possible, arrange 
for sending it across the frontier and report on the prospect 
of securing more in the future. Assurances were given by the 
German authorities that supplies imported for the use of the 
civil population would not be requisitioned. Mr. Shaler set 
off at once and reached London towards the close of Septem- 
ber, and early in October was followed by Mr. Hugh Gibson, 
Secretary of our Legation at Brussels. He found that Mr. 
Shaler had purchased food, but had not received permission 
from the Foreign Office to ship it through the blockade. 

That there might be no doubt as to the German pledge, 
Mr. Page, American Ambassador in London, on October 7 
cabled to Mr. Bryan that a Belgian Committee had been 
formed in Brussels under the patronage of the American and 
Spanish ministers; that its object was to import food for the 
poor of Belgium ; that the German authorities in the occupied 
country had consented, that the British Government had given 
permission for food to be exported, provided it were sent by the 
American Embassy at London consigned to the American Lega- 
tion at Brussels, and that Mr. Shaler, an American, was then 
in London purchasing supplies. It would be well, Mr. Page 
thought, that a definite assurance be obtained from Germany 
of her approval of this humane project. 

Mr. Gerard was at once instructed to take up the matter, 
informally, with the German Foreign Office, and while await- 
ing a reply he received a cablegram from Mr. Whitlock. 

The Committee for the Provisioning of Brussels had re- 
quested that Mr. Gibson return to London and seek to arrange 
a permanent agreement with the British Government by which 
the civil population of all Belgium might be provisioned. It 
was concerning this matter that Mr. Whitlock telegraphed the 
Secretary of State, on October 16. "x\ grave situation," he 
said, "confronts the land. In normal times Belgium produces 
only one-sixth of the foodstuffs she consumes. Within two 
weeks there will be no more food in Belgium. Winter is com- 
ing on and there are thousands who are without homes and 
without hope. Therefore it is necessary to extend this relief 
work to the whole of Belgium. My Spanish colleague and I 



46 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

have been requested by the local Belgian authorities and by the 
German military authorities to permit the organization, under 
our patronage, of a committee that will undertake to revictual 
all of Belgium, and we have secured from the German military 
authorities formal official assurance that all foodstuffs shipped 
into Belgium in the care of the committee and intended for 
the feeding of the impoverished civil population will be re- 
spected by the soldiery and not made the object of military 
requisition. |It is now necessary to obtain permission from the 
English Government that foodstuffs may be shipped into Bel- 
gium. In view of this fact Gibson goes to London to-morrow 
with messages from the Spanish Minister and me to the re- 
spective Ambassadors of our countries to lay the subject be- 
fore them. Baron Lambert and Mr. Franqui, representing the 
Belgian Eelief Committee, will accompany him to acquaint the 
Belgian Minister in London with the situation and ask him to 
present the matter to the British Government. Our hope is 
that the Belgian Minister can arrange, and if there be no im- 
propriety in their so doing, that the American and Spanish 
Ambassadors may assist him in arranging for the passage of 
the provisions which the Commission is ready to buy. 

"I trust the Department will approve this course and fur- 
ther it by instructions to London. It is not money but food 
that is needed. If some appropriate means can be found to call 
the attention of our generous people at home to the plight of 
the poor in Belgium I am sure that they will send succor and 
relief for the winter that is drawing near." 

The German Government approved the plan; the British 
and French Governments promised the unmolested passage of 
neutral food ships from the United States to Holland, for Bel- 
gium; the German Government agreed to allow unneutral 
ships to carry food for Belgians to Dutch ports; the American 
Government endorsed the plan as outlined by Mr. Whitlock 
and the great work of feeding Belgium began. 

At London Mr. Gibson found good friends of Belgium who 
raised £150,000, formed a committee with Mr. Herbert Hoover 
as Chairman, and undertook the work of feeding the Belgian 
civil population. The British Government stipulated that the 
work be carried on by a neutral organization under the pat- 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 47 

ronage of the American and Spanish Ambassadors in London 
and Berlin, and the American and Spanish Ministers at Brus- 
sels, and that the food be consigned to the American Minister 
at Brussels by the London American Relief Committee with 
Mr. Hoover at its head. All the local Belgian Relief Com- 
mittees were to be united and form one national committee. 
But, as the members were all prisoners of the Germans, the 
British Government stipulated that all responsibility be as- 
sumed by the American Committee and that those of the Bel- 
gians become distributing agencies. 

Early in ISTovember the first consignment of food reached 
Brussels, other barges followed, and in response to an appeal 
by Mr. Hoover a number of American Rhodes Scholars dropped 
their work at Oxford and went to Brussels to do their part in 
distributing food to the Belgians. 

Appeal after appeal, meanwhile, was made to our country- 
men. The Belgian Legation asked food and clothes for women 
and children. Cardinal Gibbons plead for them. The suffer- 
ing of the Belgians, he said, was beyond words. Their coun- 
try had become the battlefield of nations. Innocent of wrong 
doing, they had been driven from their homes into England, 
France and Holland. They could not look to these countries for 
help. Therefore, when the cry came to us we should hear it. 
All in our country who could should give relief, for Belgium 
deserved the sympathy of all. Cardinal Mercier, through the 
American Committee in London, begged for food, for pota- 
toes, peas, grain, flour, meat. Everything was lacking. 

Mr. Whitlock reported that less than two weeks' supply 
of food remained in the Belgian cities; that a hundred soup 
kitchens were feeding a hundred thousand needy in Brussels; 
that Louvain had flour enough to last four days and that 
Liege had none at all. Nearly half the peasants were wander- 
ing from town to town seeking food and shelter. 

The response was quick. Relief Committees were organ- 
ized the land over, and money, clothing, food were freely given 
and hurried to ]^ew York for shipment to Holland. 

At New York late in October, after an exchange of cable- 
grams with Mr. Page in London and Dr. Van Dyke in Hol- 
land, $300,000 was set apart by the Belgian Committee for 



48 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the purchase of food to be sent at once. Half of the money 
came from the American Commission for Belgian Relief in 
London for no more food was obtainable in England. The 
Rockefeller Foundation in the opening days of November char- 
tered a steamer and dispatched her to Rotterdam with four 
thousand tons of flour, rice and beans, and sent a commission 
to Europe to visit the warring countries and obtain expert ad- 
vice as to the time, place and means of rendering aid most 
effectively. The Red Cross cabled money for relief of Belgian 
refugees in Holland. 

A cablegram from Mr. Page to the President of the Bel- 
gian Relief formed in Philadelphia announced that "there 
are 3,000,000 starving men and children in Belgium. The 
Commission makes an appeal to all neutral countries for a 
total of $5,000,000 a month for the winter. There has never 
been such dire want in any land in our time." No sooner was 
it received than Mr. John Wanamaker, who had chartered the 
Norwegian ship Tliehna to carry food, called a meeting of the 
owners and managers of the chief newspapers in Philadelphia 
who agreed to do their best to arouse the people to fill the ship. 
An executive conunittee representing seven newspapers took 
up the work, made the appeal and in four days the ship was 
filled and ready to sail. 

Announcement was now made that the steamship North- 
western Miller would sail from Philadelphia, in December, 
loaded with flour contributed by the millers of the northwest. 
Their gift of forty-five thousand barrels would be carried free 
by the railroads. Scarcely had the Thelma gone when prepara- 
tions were made to send a second ship, and two others were 
chartered by the Rockefeller Foundation to carry food pur- 
chased by the New York Belgian Relief Committee. The 
urgency of the situation, said the Committee in their appeal 
for funds, cannot be overestimated. The suffering among the 
women and children and other noncombatants for lack of 
food is daily becoming more acute. The statement was borne 
out by the report of one who went with the first cargo of food 
sent from London to Rotterdam by the American Commission 
for Relief in Belgium. 

"Nothing that has been written exaggerates the misery in 



PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 49 

Belgium. We drove for miles through graveyards. Stakes, on 
some of which were soldiers' tattered coats and helmets, were 
the tombstones, deserted fields are cemeteries. As we entered 
the villages women and children sought refuge in the ruins 
of roofless homes, terrified lest we were some fresh visitation of 
war. 

''The Belgian peasant has in many districts no home in 
which to sleep, no seed to sow, no implements with which to 
work, no transport to reach a market, and finally no heart to 
struggle against the inevitable. It is unbelievable that war 
'ever produced such a complete and tragic paralysis as we saw 
in many parts of Belgium." 

Sir Gilbert Parker in a letter to Cardinal Gibbons and to 
the heads of a great corporation in Philadelphia, asked "for 
food, for starving Belgium. I am here," said he, ''on the bor- 
ders of Belgium, watching the refugees fleeing into Holland 
from their devastated -country. Many towns and cities are 
absolutely destroyed. Countless homes are in ashes. 

"Unless America renders immediate aid starvation will 
destroy more Belgians than have been killed in war. The 
American Commission for Relief in Belgium asks for less than 
half a soldier's ration for each Belgian. They ask for bread 
and salt only. Will you not help to save the names of Chris- 
tianity and civilization by gifts of money?" 

In Brussels, where several hundred thousand men, women 
and children were fed, the ration w^as a little potato soup and 
six ounces of bread. Such as could paid a cent for the meal, 
which cost three cents, and the money was used to buy more 
food. 

To help speed the good work, the American Commission in 
London opened an office in ISTew York. It came not to meddle 
with the relief committees already in the country, but to attend 
to transportation of supplies. It had the funds and had made 
all diplomatic arrangements. What Belgium needed most of 
all was food, any kind of food, that would stand ocean trans- 
portation. Wheat, flour, beans, peas, preserved meat were 
needed, but above all condensed milk for the children, for Bel- 
gium was stripped of cattle. 

As the need of relief grew greater and greater it became 



50 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

quite clear that so stupendous an undertaking could not be 
carried on by charitable gifts, and through our Ambassador 
Mr. Hoover appealed to the governments of Great Britain and 
France. The call was heard and £500,000 per month was 
granted by Great Britain and 12,500,000 francs per month by 
France. To this was added by French institutions 25,000,000 
francs per month for the relief of the inhabitants of the area 
in Northern France occupied by the Germans. June 1, 1917, 
when our Government took over the financing of the work of 
relief for Belgium and ]**J^orthern France, the Commission for 
Relief in Belgium had received from Great Britain $89,- 
500,000, from the French Government $66,000,000 for Bel- 
gium and $108,000,000 from France for use in the occupied ter- 
ritory. Some $16,000,000 in cash and clothing came in ad- 
dition from committees and individuals in the British Em- 
pire; $11,500,000 from the United States and $3,000,000 
from the rest of the world. June 1 our Government loaned 
$75,000,000 to be paid in six monthly instalments of $12,- 
500,000, of which $7,500,000 was to go to Belgium, and 
$5,000,000 to France. 



CHAPTER III 



NEUTKAT. TRADE 



The entrance of the great commercial nations of Europe 
into the war at once involved our country in a struggle for its 
neutral rights. With the German merchant shipping swept 
from the seas, and the German fleet, save a few commerce 
raiders, driven into the ports and harbors of Germany, Great 
Britain was free to turn her attention to the destruction of that 
neutral trade from which Germany might obtain supplies of 
a warlike character. Water-borne traffic of this sort going 
direct to Germany in neutral bottoms was easily stopped. But 
to cut off the supply which found its way through neutral 
countries she was forced to adopt a policy which pressed heav- 
ily on the commerce of the neutrals concerned. 

At the outbreak of the war the Department of State in- 
structed our Ambassador at London to inquire if the Govern- 
ment of Great Britain would agree "that the laws of naval 
warfare as laid down by the Declaration of London of 1909," 
should "be applicable to naval warfare during the present con- 
flict in Europe," provided all the governments with whom Great 
Britain was or might be at war would do the same. Like in- 
structions were sent to our Ambassadors at Paris, Berlin, Vi- 
enna, St. Petersburg and the Legation at Brussels. Austria- 
Hungary and Germany agreed; Russia replied that whatever 
course of action Great Britain took she would follow. Great 
Britain "decided to adopt generally the rules and regulations 
of the Declaration in question, subject to certain modifications 
and additions," and set forth these additions in orders in 
Council. They consisted of new lists of absolute and condi- 
tional contraband, in lieu of those contained in articles 22 and 
24 of the Declaration; of the announcement that the British 
Navy would "treat as liable to capture a vessel which carried 
contraband of war with false papers if she were encountered 

51 



52 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

on the return vovage" ; of the conditions under which the 
existence of a blockade ''shall be presumed to be known," and 
of other modifications too technical to be stated. Thereupon 
the Department of State bade our Ambassador at London, 
Mr. Page, announce that the Government of the United States 
withdrew its suggestion, and that it "will insist that the rights 
and duties of the United States and its citizens in the present 
war be defined by the existing rules of international law and 
the treaties of the United States irrespective of the provisions 
of the Declaration of London." 

Trade between neutral countries in neutral bottoms was now 
no longer regarded as presumably innocent; the final destina- 
tion of the cargo determined its innocence; the accepted list of 
contraband articles was greatly extended, and our vessels, 
seized on the high seas, were taken into port for examination 
and often detained there for weeks before they were released. 
In September two shipments of copper to Holland were seized 
because the final destination was held to be the Krupp Works 
at Essen. In October three more were stopped at Gibraltar 
on their way to Italy consigned ''to order." Italy had forbid- 
den the export of copper but not its transit through the coun- 
try, liext came the seizure of three tankers owned by the 
Standard Oil Company of New York. These three were the 
John D. Rockefeller, which cleared from New York in Sep- 
tember for Copenhagen, and was taken off the Orkneys and 
ordered to Kirkwall ; the Brindilla, seized when on her way to 
Alexandria, Egypt, and brought into Halifax ; and the Pla- 
turia, stopped off the coast of Scotland and sent to Hornoway. 
The Brindilla and Platuria, when the war opened, were the 
property of a German company, one of the subsidiaries of the 
Standard Oil Company, but their registry had been changed 
and when captured they were under the American flag. The 
John D. Rockefeller, which had always been under the Amer- 
ican flag, and was not subject to any question which might arise 
from the change of registry after the war began, was there- 
fore made the subject of a protest, and was promptly released. 
Demand was then made for the release of the Brindilla; the 
case against her for change of registry was dropped, and, by 
order of Sir Edward Grey, the British Ambassador explained 



NEUTRAL TRADE 53 

the position of his Government. During the last few weeks, 
he said, there had been a marked increase in the export of cer- 
tain articles to neutral countries adjacent to Germany. Thus, 
while the value of the chief exports from the United States 
during September, 1914, as compared with September, 1913, 
had fallen off $107,000,000, the export of gasoline, naphtha, 
etc., had risen from 20,000,000 to 23,000,000 gallons, and that 
of fuel oil from 36,000,000 to 58,000,000. A large part of the 
exports had been consigned to neutral countries and from them 
had been sent into a belligerent country. Desirous not to be 
used as a basis for hostilities by either belligerent, these neutral 
countries were making arrangements which would prevent the 
export from them of articles which might be used for war. 
When completed it was hoped trade between neutrals would be 
subject to little or no hindrance. The Rockefeller had been de- 
tained for examination because her cargo of oil was going to 
a port near the chief naval port of a belligerent, and was con- 
signed to order. There was, therefore, no guarantee that it 
would not be forwarded to an enemy. 

And now the Kroonland, of the Red Star Line, with pas- 
sengers, rubber and copper, while on her way from ISTew York 
to Naples, was stopped at Gibraltar. Her destination, Naples ; 
the consignment of her copper ''to order" ; and the fact that 
Italy had not prohibited the shipment of copper by land to 
Austria or Germany were the reasons for seizing and sending 
the cargo before a prize court to decide whether it was or was 
not destined for Germany. 

November 2 the Department of State was informed that 
the Platuria had been released. That same day the British 
Admiralty announced that the whole North Sea was a military 
area. 

For some weeks past the Germans had been sowing mines in 
the waters north of Ireland. ''Peaceful merchant ships," said 
the British Admiralty in their order of November 2, "have 
been blown up by this agency. The White Star liner Olympic 
escaped disaster through pure good luck, and, but for warning 
given by British cruisers, other British and neutral passenger 
ships would have been destroyed." These mines had not been 
laid by a German warship, but by some merchant ship flying a 



54. THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

neutral flag, "which came along the trade route as if for pur- 
poses of peaceful commerce," and sowed the route with mines. 
"This mine-laying under neutral flags and reconnaissance con- 
ducted by trawlers, hospital ships and neutral ships are ordi- 
nary features of German naval warfare." Exceptional meas- 
ures were necessary to meet this novel way of conducting war at 
sea. The Admiralty therefore gave notice "that the whole 
North Sea must be considered a military zone." Within it 
merchant shipping of every kind, traders of all countries, 
fishing craft, vessels of every sort, were exposed to destruction 
from mines it had been found necessary to lay, and from war- 
ships "searching vigilantly, night and day, suspicious craft." 

After November 5 all vessels "passing a line drawn from 
the northern point of the Hebrides, through the Faroe Islands 
to Iceland, do so at their own peril." Ships bound for Den- 
mark, Norway and Sweden should come by the English Chan- 
nel to the Strait of Dover for sailing directions. 

Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands promptly 
protested to Great Britain and Germany against mine sowing 
in the North Sea save at the entrance of harbors, and were 
understood to intimate a hope that the United States would 
take part in a joint protest against mine planting. But the 
Secretary of State waited until the close of the year and then 
protested against the whole maritime policy of Great Britain, 
so far as it interfered with American trade. Instructions to 
communicate his views to the British Government were cabled 
to the American Ambassador on December 26 ; but the com- 
munication was not made public until the last day of the year. 

It was needless, Secretary Bryan said, to point out to Great 
Britain, usually the champion of the freedom of the seas, that 
trade between neutrals should not be interfered with by nations 
at war unless absolutely necessary to protect their safety and 
even then only so far as was absolutely necessary. But the 
present policy of his Majesty's Government towards neutral 
ships and cargoes exceeded the manifest necessity of a bellig- 
erent and imposed on the rights of American citizens on the 
high seas, restrictions not justified by international law or the 
requirements of self-preservation. "Articles listed as absolute 
contraband, shipped from the United States and consigned to 



NEUTRAL TRADE 55 

neutral countries," had been seized and detained because the 
countries to which they were destined had not forbidden the 
txport of such articles. 

Detentions of this kind were unwarranted and the situation 
was made worse by the indecision of the authorities in applying 
their own rules. A cargo of copper shipped to a specified con- 
signee in Sweden was held because Sweden had placed no em- 
bargo on copper. Italy had not only prohibited the export of 
copper, but had forbidden shipments of copper to Italian con- 
signees or "to order" to be exported or transshipped. Yet the 
British Foreign Office had declined to affirm that copper con- 
Signed to jltaly would not be molested. Seizures, thirty-one con- 
signments amounting to 19,350 tons, worth some $5,500,000, 
had by that time been made, were so numerous and the deten- 
tions so long that steamship lines would not take copper to 
Italy, insurance companies would not insure it, and a lawful 
trade was greatly impaired through the uncertainty as to treat- 
ment at the hands of the British authorities. 

Foodstuffs and articles of common use in all countries had 
been stopped despite the presumption of innocent use because 
destined for neutral countries, and without facts which war- 
ranted a belief that the shipments had a really belligerent desti- 
nation. Mere suspicion was not evidence, l^or was reimburse- 
ment for interrupted voyages and detained cargoes after inves- 
tigation failed to discover enemy destination sufficient. The 
injury was to American commerce diverted from neutral coun- 
tries. 

The Government of the United States readily admitted the 
right of a belligerent to visit and search, on the high seas, Amer- 
ican vessels or neutral vessels carrying American goods, "when 
there is sufficient evidence to justify a belief that contraband 
articles are in their cargoes." But it could not permit, without 
protest, Ajnerican ships or cargoes to be taken into British 
ports, there to search for evidence of contraband. 

The situation brought about by the policy of Great Britain 
was "a critical one to the commercial interests of the United 
States." Great industries were suffering because their products 
were denied long established markets. "Producers and export- 
ers, steamship and insurance companies" were pressing, and 



56 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

with reason, for relief "from the menace to transatlantic trade," 
which gradually but surely was ruining their business and 
"threatening financial disaster." 

In conclusion, the Secretary wished to impress upon His 
Majesty's Government that the condition of trade was such that 
if it did not improve it might "arouse a feeling contrary to 
that which has so long existed between the American and Brit- 
ish people. Already it is becoming the subject of public criti- 
cism and complaint." 

The reply was made in two notes, both friendly in tone. 
The first, presented on January 7, contained "preliminary ob- 
servations," for Sir Edward Grey saw fit to postpone to a later 
date his full discussion of the issues raised by Secretary Bryan. 
His Majesty's Government, the note stated, concurred in the 
principle that trade between neutrals should not be interfered 
with by belligerents save when absolutely necessary to protect 
their safety; and that Great Britain would endeavor to keep 
within the limit, but claimed the right to interfere with trade 
in contraband destined to the enemy's country. There seemed 
to be much misconception as to the extent to which she had in- 
terfered. The Secretary seemed to hold her responsible for 
the present state of trade with neutral countries. But such 
statistics of the export trade from New York as were at hand 
gave proof that the exports to Denmark in November, 1913, 
amounted to $558,000 and in 1914 to $7,101,000; to Sweden 
$377,000 in November, 1913, and $2,558,000 in November, 
1914; to Norway $477,000 in 1913 and $2,318,06o in 1914; 
and to Italy in November, 1913, $2,971,000 and $4,781,000 in 
the same month in 1914. 

It was true there had been a falling off in the export of cot- 
ton ; but Great Britain had not interfered with cotton. It was 
still on the free list. The adverse effect of the war on that and 
other industries was due to the diminished purchasing power 
of Germany, France, Great Britain. 

The Secretary had referred to the detention of copper. Ex- 
ports of copper from the United States to Italy during the 
months of August, September, October, November, and the first 
three weeks of December, 1913, amounted to 15,202,000 
pounds; for the same period in 1914 to 35,285,000 pounds. 



NEUTRAL TRADE 57 

To Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland during this 
period in 1913 there went 7,271,000 pounds of copper, and in 
1914 during a like period 35,347,000 pounds of copper. From 
such shipments it must be presumed that the bulk of the copper 
recently sent to these countries was intended not for their own 
use, but for a belligerent who could not import it direct. There 
was in possession of his Majesty's Government positive evidence 
to show that four shipments of copper and aluminum definitely 
consigned to Sweden were really destined for Germany. 

Foodstuffs ought not to be detained and put into prize courts 
without presumption that they are for the use of the armed 
forces of the enemy or the enemy Government. From August 
4, 1914, to January 3, 1915, the number of ships going from 
the United States to Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and 
Italy was 773. Of them but 45 had consignments or cargoes 
put in the Prize Courts, and of the ships only eight were held, 
one of which had been released. Under modern conditions it 
was necessary that the ship be brought into port for examina- 
tion. In no other way could the right of search be exercised. 
Rubber had been shipped from the United States under an- 
other name to escape notice. Cotton had not been put on the 
list of contraband. Precisely for this reason ships carrying 
cotton bales had been selected to carry concealed contraband. 
No ships had so far been detained for carrying cotton; but 
should his Majesty's Government have reason to believe that in 
the case of a particular ship the bales of cotton contained cop- 
per or other contraband, the only way to prove it was to weigh 
and examine the bales, a process that could only be carried out 
by bringing the vessel into port. 

We are confronted with the growing danger that neutral coun- 
tries contiguous to the enemy will become on a scale hitherto unprece- 
dented a base of supplies for the armed forces of our enemies and 
for materials for manufacturing armament. The trade figures of 
imports show how strong this tendency is, but we have no complaint 
to make of the attitude of the Governments of those countries which 
so far as we are aware have not departed from proper rules of neu- 
trality. We endeavor in the interest of our own national safety to 
prevent this danger by intercepting goods really destined for the 
enemy, without interfering with those which are for hona fide 
neutrals. 



58 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

To our countrymen the note was far from satisfactory. The 
citation of statistics to show the large increase in our ship- 
ments to neutral nations was thought not to the point and mis- 
leading. These increases, it was said, were due to the rise in 
price of American goods and to the inability of neutrals to get 
supplies from belligerent countries near them. Unable to get 
copper from Germany and Austria, Italy had turned to us. 
Unable to get wheat from Bulgaria and Rumania, Italy had 
been forced to buy in the United States. Ever since the begin- 
ning of the war the United States has sought to obtain the 
reasons for the detention of our ships and has asked in vain. 
The Government knows only from shippers and exporters that 
scores of ships have been detained. A press dispatch from 
Copenhagen to the London Neivs reported that M. Scavenius, 
the Danish Foreign Minister, had declared that the increase 
in exports from the United States to Denmark from $600,000 
in 1913 to $7,000,000 in 1914 was because Denmark's normal 
sources of supply were cut off by the war. 

The British Embassy now issued a statement on the deten- 
tion of our ships. Jt could not give a pledge that all ships 
then in prize courts would be released on bail, because the 
decision in each case must rest with the Judge. But His 
Majesty's Government was anxious to relieve the shortage in 
tonnage and would not therefore oppose release on bail of ships 
then in prize courts if bail were offered. Only seven vessels 
were then in prize courts, and but five were detained for exam- 
ination of the character of their cargoes. !No one of these was 
under the American flag. 

Besides the cases of ships seized and detained, the Depart- 
ment of State had before it the cases of two ships sure to be 
seized. At the opening of the war the Hamburg- American Line 
steamship Dacia was interned at Port Arthur, Texas. Early in 
January she was bought by Mr. E. N. Breitung, of Mar- 
quette, Michigan, and given an American registry ; the German 
captain and crew were replaced by Americans, and orders is- 
sued to load her with cotton at Galveston and clear for Bremen. 
The question then was. Will Great Britain and France recog- 
nize this transfer of a German ship to the American flag dur- 
ing war time ? France had held that even a bona fide sale could 



NEUTRAL TRADE 59 

not be recognized so long as the purpose of the sale was to evade 
capture. A vessel so sold might be seized by a belligerent. 

Beports from London left no doubt that she would be 
seized by the British because it was unfair that a vessel be- 
longing to a belligerent should be transferred to a neutral flag 
that she might escape capture. Reports from Washington an- 
nounced that the Department of State had proposed that the 
destination of the Dacia be changed to the neutral port of Rot- 
terdam ; that she be allowed to make the voyage there and back 
unmolested; and that the larger question of the legality of the 
transfer be left for future consideration. It might well be 
that the purchase was a test of the feasibility of the sale to 
Americans of all the German vessels interned in our ports. 
The Government of Great Britain replied with a refusal of safe 
conduct. It was loath to cause loss to the shippers of the 
cargo, but could not agree that the transfer was valid in inter- 
national law. ''If, therefore, the Dacia should proceed to sea 
and should be captured, the British Government will find them- 
selves obliged to bring the ship (apart from the cargo) before 
the prize court." As to the cargo, if it were solely owned by 
American citizens, the British Government would either buy 
it "at the price which would have been realized by the ship- 
pers if the cargo had reached its foreign destination," or would 
forward the cotton to Rotterdam without cost to the shippers. 

The Berlin Vossische Zeitung held it was clear that there 
must be cases in which ships of belligerents may be transferred 
to a neutral flag, without any suggestion that it was done to 
escape capture. The Dacia was such a case. The Hamburg- 
American Line did not dream of transferring its fleet or any 
part of it to the American flag. There was in the United States 
a demand for ships to carry freight. An offer was made for 
the Dacia and the owners sold her. 

A Paris journal thought the Germans were seeking to put 
Anglo-American relations to the test; to give aid to those who 
in America were leading the attack on Great Britain in the 
name of American commerce, and to save those vessels interned 
in our ports. 

While the Dacia was preparing to sail from Galveston, the 
American steamship Wilhelmirm, loaded with flour, grain and 



60 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

foodstuffs, cleared from New York for Hamburg. She had 
been chartered from the Southern Products Company by a firm 
in St. Louis, and the cargo consigned to a branch of the firm 
in Hamburg. The food was for the use of civilians in Ger- 
many. No shipment of food from our country to Germany 
had been made since the war began. By many this shipment 
was looked on as a test case, as an attempt to determine whether 
or not the British Government would stop American vessels 
on their way to German ports with food for the use of civilians 
solely. 

If the British Government had any doubts as to what it 
should do they were quickly removed by the action of Ger- 
many. The Wilhelmina sailed on the twenty-second of January 
and on the twenty-sixth the Federal Council at Berlin issued 
an order for the conservation of food. 

All stocks of corn, wheat and flour are ordered seized by Febru- 
ary 1. 

All business transactions in these commodities are forbidden from 
January 26. 

All municipalities are charged with the duty of setting aside suit- 
able supplies of preserved meat. 

The owners of corn are ordered to report their stocks immedi- 
ately, whereupon confiscation at a fixed price will follow. 

A Government distributing office for the negotiation of consump- 
tion will be established, distribution being made according to the 
number of inhabitants. 

The Imperial Gazette explained that such action was neces- 
sary in order that there might be a regular and sufficient sup- 
ply of breadstuffs to last ''until the next threshing of the new 
harvest," and that the order gave assurance that '*our enemy's 
plan to starve Germany will be upset, and assures us of plenti- 
ful bread until next harvest." 

As soon as the order was made known in our country the 
German Ambassador made haste to give verbal notice to the 
Department of State that no foodstuffs from the United States 
to Germany would be seized for military or governmental use. 

The German Vice Chancellor took pains to explain that the 
designation of regions wherein imported grains could be sold 
only to municipalities had been revoked by the Bundesratb. 



NEUTRAL TRADE 6l 

The Bundesrath regulations for dealing in grain, he said, did 
not contemplate the seizure of grain for the use of the Govern- 
ment or the army, but merely its equitable distribution for pri- 
vate use. It was a measure of protection of the individual 
against speculation. Paragraph forty-five of the regulations, he 
pointed out, read: "The stipulations of this regTilation do not 
apply to grain or flour imported from abroad after January 
31." The German Government "had also declared its readi- 
ness to deliver trade in such imported products to American 
organizations for the duration of the wslt." 

All this Ambassador von Bernstorif had officially stated a 
few days before in a note. 

The decision of the Federal Council concerning foodstuffs, 
which England had assigned as her reason for declaring con- 
traband food products going to Germany, related solely to wheat, 
rye, both mixed and unmixed with other products, and to 
wheat, rye, oats and barley flour. The Federal Council again 
in Section 45 had expressly provided that "The stipulations 
of this regulation do not apply to grain or flour imported from 
abroad after January 31." The Federal Council's order pro- 
vided that imported cereals and flours could be sold exclusively 
to certain municipalities and specially designated organizations. 
This was to throw imported grains and flour into such channels 
as supplied the civilian, and protect them against speculators 
and engrossers. Nevertheless this provision had been rescinded 
so as to leave no room for doubt. The German Government 
called attention to the fact that municipalities do not form part 
of, or belong to, the Government, but are self-administrative 
bodies, elected by the people of the commune. The German 
Government was amenable to any proposition looking to con- 
trol of the cargoes by a special American organization under 
consular offices. That imported food products would be con- 
sumed by civilians exclusively the Government gave absolute as- 
surance. England therefore had no excuse for stopping Amer- 
ican food products on their way to Germany. 

Meantime, lest the cargo of the Wilhelmina should fall 
under the German order and become liable to seizure by Great 
Britain, attorneys for the shipping company applied to Am- 



62 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

bassador von Bernstorff for a guarantee that the food would not 
be taken for military purposes. The Ambassador replied : 

I, as representative of the German Government, guarantee to you 
that the foodstuffs will not reach the German Government, its agents 
or contractors, nor the military and naval forces. I will, further, 
take the necessary steps which will insure that the German Govern- 
ment will not make use of its right of preemption. 

The order was intended to prevent the cornering, and specu- 
lation in foodstuffs in Germany, and did not "affect foodstuffs 
imported from neutral countries and exclusively for noncom- 
batants." 

Despite these assurances, the British Foreign Office on Feb- 
ruary 4 announced that if the destination of the cargo of the 
Wilhelmina was Germany, and the vessel were intercepted, its 
cargo would be put in prize court that the situation created by 
Germany might be examined. I^o proceedings would be taken 
against the ship. Her owners would be indemnified for delay 
and the owners of the cargo paid for any loss caused by the 
action of the British authorities. It was quite clear that the 
Germans did not intend to capture merchant vessels and bring 
them into port but sink them by submarines, regardless of the 
lives of the crews and -civilians on board. Even hospital ships 
would not be spared. This raised the question whether more 
stringent measures should be adopted against German trade. 
But care would be taken not to inflict loss on neutral ships 
which sailed before warning had been given. 

January 31 the Dacia sailed from Galveston, and Febru- 
ary 2 Ambassador Page telegraphed from London that the 
British fleet had been ordered to treat as conditional contraband 
subject to seizure, all cargoes of grain and flour destined for 
Germany. The Wilhelmina having sailed before the German 
Federal Council issued its order, an exception would be made 
in her case. She would be released but the cargo would be 
taken and paid for at invoice price. 

That same day Mr. Page sent information far more im- 
portant. The German Admiralty, he reported, had warned all 
merchantmen not to approach the north and west coasts of 
France, and cautioned all bound for the N"orth Sea to go north 



NEUTRAL TRADE 63 

around Scotland. Two days later the German War Zone order 
mentioned by Mr. Page was made public. The waters around 
Great Britain and Ireland, including the whole of the English 
Channel, were declared a war zone from and after February 
18. Every enemy merchant ship found therein would be de- 
stroyed even if it were impossible to save the passengers and 
crew. ITeutral ships would also be in danger, because of the 
misuse of neutral flags ordered by the British Admiralty on 
January 31, and because of "the hazards of naval warfare, 
neutral vessels cannot always be prevented from sufi^ering from 
the attacks meant for enemy ships." The routes of navigation 
around the north of the Shetland Islands, ''in the eastern part 
of the North Sea, and in a strip of at least thirty nautical miles 
along the Dutch coast," were ''in no danger." 

This order, it was pointed out, was not only extraordinary 
but without precedent, and was either an empty threat or a 
war against humanity. All nations had an equal right to the 
sea. Belligerents might search a neutral ship for goods contra- 
band of war, might shut it out of a port by blockade in force, 
but could do nothing more. But Germany had done more than 
violate international law by declaring the waters around the 
British Isles a war zone. She had announced that every enemy 
merchant ship found in the zone would be sunk without regard 
for the lives of crew and passengers. One of the first duties of 
a captor of a merchant ship is to provide for the safety of non- 
combatants on board. Germany had asserted that British ships 
had misused neutral flags and because of this a neutral flag 
would afford no protection if there were the least suspicion of 
its genuineness, but commanders of German submarines might, 
if they wished, sink every merchant ship they captured. 

A memorandum issued by the German Government ex- 
plained the necessity of the war zone. 

The writer began with a long statement of grievances 
against Great Britain. Her conduct of commercial warfare 
had been a mockery of all principles of the law of nations. She 
had declared her naval forces should be guided by the stipula- 
tions of the Declaration of London and had then repudiated 
them in the most essential points; had put on the list of con- 
traband articles not at allj or only indirectly, capable of use in 



64 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

war ; had abolished all distinction between conditional and abso- 
lute contraband by confiscating articles of conditional contra- 
band destined for Germany no matter what the port of desti- 
nation, and no matter whether they were or were not for uses 
of war or peace; had taken from neutral ships German sub- 
jects capable of bearing arms; had declared the whole North 
Sea the seat of war and so in a way blockaded neutral ports 
and coasts, and had done these things not only to strike at 
German military operations, but to deliver over the whole 
German people to famine. 

The writer then complained of the conduct of neutrals, 
charging them with, in the main, acquiescing in the measures 
of Great Britain; with failure to secure the release of German 
subjects and goods taken from their vessels; with aiding Great 
Britain in her defiance of the principle of the open sea by for- 
bidding the export and transit of goods destined for peaceful 
uses in Germany. 

Because of these things Germany found it necessary to re- 
taliate. "Just as England declared the whole North Sea be- 
tween Scotland and Norway to be comprised within the seat of 
war, so does Germany now declare the waters surrounding Great 
Britain and Ireland, including the whole English Channel, to 
be comprised within the seat of war, and will prevent by all 
the military means at its disposal all navigation by the enemy 
in those waters. To this end it will endeavor to destroy, after 
February 18 next, any merchant vessels of the enemy which 
present themselves at the seat of war above indicated, although 
it may not always be possible to avert the dangers which may 
menace persons and merchandise." Neutral powers were there- 
fore "forewarned not to continue to entrust their crews, passen- 
gers, or merchandise to such vessels." To "recommend their 
own vessels to steer clear of these waters" ; for in view of the 
"hazards of war, and of the misuse of the neutral flag ordered 
by the British Government, it will not always be possible to 
prevent a neutral vessel from becoming the victim of an attack 
intended to be directed against a vessel of the enemy." It is 
expressly declared "that navigation in the waters north of the 
Shetland Islands is outside the danger zone, as well as naviga- 



NEUTRAL TRADE 65 

tion in the Eastern part of the Korth Sea and in a zone thirty 
mi rine miles wide along the Dutch coast." 

While Germany was charging Great Britain with seizing 
her subjects and goods found on neutral ships and complain- 
ing that neutrals tamely submitted, she was busy sinking neutral 
vessels by means of mines and submarines. Between August 
8, 1914, and February 4, 1915, the dates of her war zone order 
and her memorandum, she had destroyed in these ways, nine 
Dutch, ten Swedish, nine Norwegian, and eight Danish, in all 
thirty-six neutral vessels. Great Britain had not sunk one. 

In the war zone proclamation was a charge of "misuse of 
neutral flags ordered on January 31, by the British Govern- 
ment." Germany in her Prize Ordinance August 3, 1914, 
authorized her ships of war to fly a neutral flag for the purpose 
of making an attack. If it were permissible for a ship of war 
to use such a flag to make an attack it was equally allowable 
for a merchantman to use it to avoid attack. The cause of the 
complaint was the action of the captain of the Orduna, who on 
January 31, out from Queenstown, raised the American flag. 

A statement issued on February 7 from the British Foreign 
Office defended the act. Within certain limits, it was held, the 
use of a neutral flag was a well established ruse of war. The 
object, in the case of a merchantman, was to force the enemy 
to satisfy himself as to the nationality of the vessel and cargo 
by an examination before capture. The British Government 
had always considered the use of British colors by foreign ves- 
sels to enable them to escape capture as no breach of interna- 
tional law. Therefore it held that the use of a foreign flag by a 
British merchantman in order to escape capture was no breach 
of international law. 

Germany was bound to ascertain the character of a mer- 
chant vessel and cargo before capture. To destroy ship, non- 
combatant crew and cargo, as she had declared her intention 
of doing, was nothing less than an act of piracy on the high 
seas. 

With this statement from the Foreign Office there came 
from London a report that on Saturday morning, February 6, 
when the Lusitania was oif the coast of Ireland her captain re- 
ceived from the Admiralty a wireless message ordering him to 



66 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

hoist the American flag and sail under it to Liverpool. For 
this act the Americans on board were truly grateful ; but if the 
Admiralty did send forth such an order responsibility was 
shifted from the Cunard Company to the British Government 
and trouble was likely to arise. 

Our Government acted promptly and February 10 addressed 
notes to Germany and Great Britain. That to Germany began 
by calling the attention of the Imperial Government to the 
"serious possibilities of the course of action apparently con- 
templated under the 'war zone proclamation/ " and requesting 
it ''to consider, before action is taken, the critical situation in 
respect of the relations between this country and Germany, 
which might arise were the German naval forces in carrying out 
the policy foreshadowed in the Admiralty's proclamation to de- 
stroy any merchant vessel of the United States or cause the 
death of American citizens." To attack and destroy any vessel 
entering a prescribed zone without first determining the bel- 
ligerent character of the vessel and the contraband character 
of its cargo would be an act so unprecedented that the Gov- 
ernment of the United States was loath to believe the Imperial 
Government "contemplates it as possible." 

Suspicion that enemy ships were using neutral flags im- 
properly created no just presumption that all ships crossing a 
prescribed area were subject to the same suspicion. Should 
the commanders of German vessels of war act on the presump- 
tion that the flag of the United States was not being used in 
good faith, "and destroy on the high seas an American vessel, 
or the lives of American citizens, it would be difficult for the 
Government of the United States to view the act in any other 
light than as an indefensible violation of neutral rights which it 
would be very hard indeed to reconcile with the friendly rela- 
tions now so happily subsisting between the two governments," 

The Imperial German Government would readily appre- 
ciate "that the Government of the United States would be com- 
pelled to hold the Imperial German Government to a strict 
accountability for such acts of their naval authorities and to 
take any steps it might be necessary to safeguard American 
lives and property and to secure to American citizens the full 
enjoyment of their acknowledged rights on the high seas." 



NEUTRAL TRADE 671 

Tbo note to Great Britain opened with the statement that 
the Government of the United States had been advised by the 
declaration of the German Admiralty on February 4, that the 
use of neutral flags by British vessels for the purpose of avoid- 
ing recognition had been explicitly authorized by the British 
Government. Reports had been seen in the newspapers that the 
captain of the Lusltania, acting under orders from British 
authorities, had raised the American flag as his vessel ap- 
proached the coast, and from "an alleged official statement of 
the Foreign Office," it appeared that the use of a neutral flag by 
a belligerent to escape capture or attack, had been defended. 

Supposing these reports to be true the Government of the 
United States reserved the consideration of the legality and 
propriety of such use of a neutral flag for future considera- 
tion. But it desired "very respectfully to point out to His 
Britannic Majesty's Government the serious consequences which 
may result to American vessels and American citizens if this 
practice is continued." The occasional use of a neutral flag un- 
der stress of pursuit, was a very diii'erent thing from an explicit 
sanction by a belligerent government for the use of such a flag by 
Its merchant vessels within certain areas of the high seas pre- 
sumed to be frequented by hostile warships. Because of the 
avowed "purpose of the German Admiralty to engage in active 
naval operations in certain delimited sea areas adjacent to the 
coasts of Great Britain and Ireland," the Government of the 
United States would view with anxious solicitude any general 
use of our flag "by British vessels traversing those waters," bo- 
cause "such practice would greatly endanger the vessels of a 
friendly power navigating those waters, and would even seem to 
impose upon the Government of Great Britain a measure of 
responsibility for the loss of American lives and vessels in case 
of an attack by a German naval force." 

It was understood, was the reply of Great Britain, Febru- 
ary 16, 1915, that the German Government had ordered the 
sinking of British merchantmen at sight by torpedoes, without 
making any provision for saving the lives of noncombatant 
crews and passengers. It was because of this threat that the 
Lusitania raised the American flag on her inward voyage. On 
her next outward voyage, American passengers who were em- 



68 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

barking asked that the American flag be raised, to insure their 
safety. His Majesty's Government did not advise the com- 
pany how to meet this request, and believed the vessel left 
Liverpool under the British flag. 

As to the use of foreign colors by British merchantmen, the 
British merchant shipping act permitted it in times of war 
in order to escape capture. When a neutral Great Britain al- 
ways accorded to vessels of other states the use of the British 
flag as a means of protection against capture. The United 
States had so used it during the Civil War. It would therefore 
be unfair, now that conditions were reversed, for the United 
States and other neutrals to grudge Great Britain the liberty 
to take similar action. The duty of a belligerent was to ascer- 
tain definitely for itself the nationality of a merchant vessel 
before capturing, sinking or destroying it. If that obligation 
were fulfilled the hoisting of a neutral flag on board a British 
merchantman could not possibly endanger neutral shipping. If 
loss were suffered because of disregard of this principle, it was 
on the enemy vessel disregarding it, and on the Government 
ordering that it be disregarded, that the sole responsibility for 
the injury ought to rest. 

Well aware that neutral flags would not be respected by 
German submarine commanders, owners of neutral vessels about 
to sail from New York had the names of their ships painted in 
huge letters on the sides as a means of identification. In many 
cases the flag of the neutral country to which the ship belonged 
was added. 

Both notes were heartily approved by our people. The 
President, it was said, has again shown that the interests of the 
country are safe in his hands. His position is sound in law 
and correct in form. There is no jingoism in the note, no 
bluster, but a firm and temperate statement of what is in the 
minds of the American people. No belligerent has the right, 
and none has hitherto claimed the right, to sink unarmed mer- 
chantmen without warning. Does Germany intend to adopt 
this policy? Instead of announcing a purpose to search and 
seize vessels carrying contraband goods, the German Foreign 
Office makes a thinly veiled threat of lynch law against neutrals. 
There is more than a warning in a clearly defined war zone. 



NEUTRAL TRADE 69 

It is a threat that neutral vessels may be "accidentally" tor- 
pedoed instead of being overhauled and searched by German 
submarines. 

The notes to Great Britain and Germany make it clear to 
the belligerents that the neutrality of the United States is to 
continue fearlessly impartial. The subject is not one permit- 
ting delicacy of treatment. If the language used in the protest 
to Germany is vigorously plain it is none the less a friendly 
warning. Germany, said the New York 8taats-Z eitung , will 
undoubtedly take the note in good part. "She will undoubtedly 
overlook the insult which it contains. The American people 
cannot. We stand to-day a nation in danger. We are ruled by 
a man and not by a Congress." 

By the British press the flag note was held to be fair. I^o 
exception could be taken to the tone in which it was couched. 
It would not be difficult to satisfy the United States that in 
using her flag to defeat the intentions of the German warships 
to torpedo merchantmen without warning, Great Britain was 
acting in the interests of humanity and civilization. It was 
quite natural that the United States should view with anxiety 
any general use of the American flag by British vessels crossing 
the waters barred by Germany. But no claim to make such 
general use of any neutral flag has yet been advanced. The 
utmost the Foreign Office claimed was the right of a British 
vessel when escaping from attack to fly a neutral flag as a 
ruse de guerre. To promise that under no circumstances shall 
a British vessel hoist the Stars and Stripes is more than the 
President asks and more than our Government could grant. 
But we could readily agree to limit its use to cases of real 
necessity. 

When something does not suit the Yankees, said the Berlin 
Post, they adopt as threatening and saber-rattling a tone as "pos- 
sible. They think the person thus threatened will be fright- 
ened, and yield. If he does not, if he pays no attention and 
is not scared, the swaggering Yankees soon quiet down. The 
Hamburger Nachrichten thought the threatening sentences in 
the American note quite unimpressive. 

Just at this time, on February 13, the Lusitania sailed from 
Xiverpool for New York. When about to depart her Captain 



70 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

announced that if necessary he would again fly the American 
flag. Most of her passengers were Americans. They were 
entitled to the protection of their flag, and so, if the German 
pirates sank the ship, the Americans should have the satisfac- 
tion of dying under their own national emblem. 

On February 16 Ambassador von Bernstorff delivered a 
note by way of a preliminary answer to the note of the United 
States. From sources absolutely reliable, the note said, it was 
known that British merchant ships intended to oppose armed 
resistance to German men-of-war in the area declared a war 
zone by Germany. Many were already armed and all were to 
be speedily. They were instructed to sail in small fleets, and 
to ram the German submarine while the examination was under 
way or if the submarine lay alongside drop bombs or over- 
power the examining party as it came on board. A large 
reward had been ofl^ered for the destruction of the first Ger- 
man submarine by a British merchantman. Therefore, British 
merchant vessels could no longer be considered as undefended, 
but might be attacked without warning or search. The British 
admitted that instructions had been given to misuse neutral 
flags and it thus became necessary to ascertain the identity of 
neutral vessels, unless they sailed in daylight under convoy. 
Attacks to be expected from masked British merchantmen made 
a search impossible as the submarines themselves would be 
exposed to destruction. The safety of neutral shipping in the 
war zone therefore was seriously threatened. There was also 
danger from mines which were to be laid in the zone to a 
great extent. To this kind of warfare Germany had been 
driven by the murderous ways of the British who sought to 
destroy lawful neutral trade and starve the German people. 
Germany would be obliged to hold to the principles announced 
until England submitted to the rules of warfare established 
by the Declarations of Paris and London or until she was forced 
by neutral powers to do so. 

"Without waiting for the Foreign Ofiice to formally reply 
to the American note, Admiral Behncke made a statement on 
February 16, to Lieutenant Commander Gherardi, naval at- 
tache to the American Embassy. England, he said, was bent 
on subduing Germany by starvation. Germany in every way 



NEUTRAL TRADE 71 

had attempted to bring to the attention of neutral powers her 
need of food for her civilian population. Her efforts resulted 
in nothing. IsTow that the cutting off of food "had come to a 
point where Germany no longer had sufficient food to feed her 
people, it became necessary for her to bring England to terms 
by the use of force." By the submarine she could be brought 
to the condition of needing food for her people. Germany did 
not wish to harm American ships or their cargoes unless con- 
traband of war. But she was "in a position where her life 
depends upon her putting into effect the only means she has 
of saving herself. She must and will use this means." In 
spite of the great effect the submarine would have on shorten- 
ing the war, "the Admiralty does not wish," Admiral Behncke 
continued, "to put it into effect to the detriment of neutral 
commerce and the rights of nations on the high seas. They 
have, therefore, stated that if Great Britain will abide by the 
Declaration of London, without modification, or by the Treaty 
of Paris, whereby food supplies necessary for the civilian popu- 
lation can be freely brought into Germany, the whole matter 
of a submarine blockade will be dropped by Germany." The 
Admiral further suggested that American ships should proceed 
under convoy and so be exempt from search. 

On the nineteenth of February, the day after the War Zone 
order went into force, the text of Germany's reply to the 
American note was made public. 

Up to the present time, this note said, Germany had 
scrupulously observed "valid international rules regarding naval 
warfare," and had done so even to the injury of her military 
interests. Thus Germany "allowed the transport of provisions 
to England from Denmark until to-day though she was well 
able by her sea power to prevent it." England on the other 
hand had not hesitated to infringe international law a second 
time, in order to paralyze the peaceful commerce of Germany 
with neutrals. 

All these encroachments were made in order to cut off all 
supplies to Germany and so starve her civil population, "a pro- 
cedure contrary to humanitarian principles." America, it was 
true, protested, but could not induce England to depart from 
her course of action. Thus the American ship Wilhehnina had 



72 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

been stopped by British, although her cargo was destined solely 
for the German civil population and the German Government 
had expressly declared it should be used "only for this pur- 
pose." 

Germany was "as good as cut off from her overseas supply 
by the silent or protesting toleration of neutrals/' not only of 
such goods as are absolute contraband, but such also as before 
the war were merely conditional, or not contraband at all. 
Great Britain on the other hand, with the toleration of neutral 
governments, was not only supplied with goods conditionally 
contraband, or not contraband, but also Avith those which are 
held by her to be absolutely contraband if sent to Germany, 
as provisions, raw materials and the like. 

Germany felt "obliged to point out with the greatest em- 
phasis, that a traffic in arms, estimated at many hundreds of 
millions," was going on between American firms and the 
enemies of Germany. 

Because of this situation, Germany, "after six months of 
patient waiting," had been forced "to answer Great Britain's 
murderous method of naval warfare with sharp counter meas- 
ures." Great Britain having summoned hunger as an ally in 
order to force seventy millions of people to choose between star- 
vation and submission to her commercial will, Germany had de- 
cided to appeal to similar allies. The German Government 
was determined by every means in her power to suppress the 
importations of war material to Great Britain and her allies, 
and took it for granted that neutrals which had taken no meas- 
ures to stop the traffic in arms to her enemies would make no 
complaint because of its forcible suppression by Germany. 

Therefore the Admiralty had proclaimed a war zone with 
limits exactly defined. Germany would seek to close this zone 
with mines, and would endeavor to destroy hostile merchant 
ships in every possible way. The German Government did not 
fail to recognize the danger to neutral ships, but it was jus- 
tified in expecting that "neutrals will acquiesce in those meas- 
ures as they have done in the case of grievous damages upon 
them" by Great Britain. 

Germany had announced the destruction of all enemy mer- 
chant vessels found within the zone, but not all merchant ves- 



NEUTRAL TRADE 73 

sels as the United States has erroneously supposed, Germany 
was ready to deliberate with the United States as to the best 
way to secure the safety of the lawful shipping of neutrals in 
the war zone ; but two things made this difficult, the misuse of 
neutral flags by British shipping, and the trade in war ma- 
terial in neutral ships. Great Britain again had furnished 
arms to British merchant ships and had instructed them for- 
cibly to resist German submarines. It would be hard, there- 
fore, for submarines to recognize neutral ships. Search in most 
cases could not be made because in the case of a disguised 
British -merchant ship, from which an attack might be ex- 
pected, both searching party and submarine would be exposed 
to destruction. 

The suggestion was then made that the United States "make 
their ships which are conveying peaceful cargoes through the 
British war zone discernible by means of convoys." Germany 
would be "particularly grateful" if American vessels were rec- 
ommended to avoid the war zone until the flag question was set- 
tled. If the United States should find a way to remove the 
causes which made the war zone and the submarine warfare 
necessary, and "in particular should find a way to make the 
Declaration of London respected," Germany would "gladly 
draw conclusions from the new situation." 

In Germany the note was naturally approved. ^MTeutrals 
must either force Great Britain to fight fairly or else keep their 
ships out of the war zone. It left no doubt of Germany's 
intention to make reprisals on Great Britain, and neutrals must 
understand that all Germany desires this, and that this policy 
will be carried out. The note had none of the excited tone used 
by America when a single shipload of weapons was delivered 
in Mexico by Germany. America's bluff assumption that Ger- 
many would assume responsibility for endangering her ships 
is flatly rejected. German submarine commanders had been 
instructed not to injure American ships when recognizable, but 
they would be recognizable as such only when accompanied by 
American warships^ To assume that the American flag made 
them recognizable was to misread the note. 

The German note referred to the Wilhelmina case. On 
February 9, under stress of weather, her captain took her into 



71 'nil". r\rn:n stati's i\ 'nM'. woKi.n \vai{ 

the port of l^ilinoutli. VUcvc llic i-jiroo of footlstuH's, but not 
the vested, was scizod iuul put in pii/,(< i-ouit. 'I'lic Si-crctiiry 
of Stat(> as soon as i)ossibU>, ])rolosU<il, ami IVbniarv .ll> iSir 
Kihvard itvcy i-cpliod. 

^Vh(M^ His Alaji'stv's (Jovcrmncnt, lu> said, ordered (lie seiz- 
ure o( (be eari;-o as eonjraband tbev bad before tbem (be (ext 
ot a deeri'e of (be (iermaii l''edei-al (\>iuieil under wliieb all 
uraiii and llonr imported after daimarv ol must be delivered to 
eertain organizations under dii-eet control {)[' «;dvernment, or ot" 
nuiuieipal autliorities. 'Die \V illirl iiiiiut was bound for Uam- 
buri;\ onc> ot tbe ['vcc cities ot" ibe (icrmau lMU|)ire, tlu> i;"overn- 
ment ^A' wbicb is \'ested in tbe luuiiicipalit v. 

Information bad oidv just readied His Majesty's (lovern- 
mont (lia( b_v a decree {>( l<\'brnarv (t, tbe provisions as (o <;ruiu 
and (lour deli\'er\ bad beiMi r("{>eaK'd tor tbe express [)nrpose, it 
wonld seem, (>t uiakiuii' ditbcult tbe antieij)ated pr()ceediiiii's 
iipiinst tbe W iHichniiid. 

Hn( (lu> (uM'iuan decnu* was iio( (be only ground on wbicb 
tbe submission oi' lier caii;-o to a i)rize eoiirt was justiliable. 
Tbe (u'ruiau (lovernuuMit bad treated e\('rv (own or i)ort on 
tbe east eoas( {^( lMii;Iaud as a fort i tied [thu'c, and base of 
operations, and bad bombariied ^'armoutb, Wbitby and Sear- 
borougb. Neutral \t>ssels sailinu' from Kui;'lisli ports bad been 
seizeil and brou_i;lit bi'fore (iiMiuau prize courts. Tbe Dnteh 
vessel Maria from (\iliforuia witb urain consigned to Dublin 
and Belfast, bad been sunk bv tbe luirlsrttltc. 

"Tbe (Jernian Ciovernmeut cannot bave it botli ways." If it 
tbouiibt itself justiti(>d in destroy inn,- tbe lives and property of 
peaceful civil iubabitants of b1ui;iisb o[H'n towns and in seiz- 
ini;- and siukinii: sliips ai\d cargoes oi' conditional contraband 
bound tbitluM-, Inrause tbey consider(>d (Iumu consigned to a 
fortiiied base. His Majesty's (loverument bad i\w riglit to (rea( 
Hamburg, partly prtUei-ted by fortitications at tbe nioutb of (be 
Elbe, as a fortitied town and base of supply. If (be owners 
of the cargo o( (be \Villicli»i)ia felt aggrieved by the action of 
ITis "Arajesty's (lovernment tbey could present their ease before 
the prize court. The owners of tbe vessel and the owners of 
tlie cargo, if fouiul (o be i'ou( raband, would be indemnilled. 

Germany had mal(rea(ed (be civil population of IVlgium 



\K( TKAJ. 'I"RAI>E 7r> 

and of Buch partH of Franco aH hIio hoJd ; l)ad planted rninoH in 
iho high Hoan long bcforo any had hfon sown by Oroat liritain; 
had Hunk ncMjlraJ shipH and thoir iinofT(;n(Jing crown; firod on 
Kngliwh townH and dcfonsoloHH British subjoctH; bornhardod 
from airHhi[)H quiot f;oijntry towns and villages devoid of de- 
fense; torpedoed British ships at sight without warning to the 
crew and without a chance to save their lives; fired on a 
British hospital ship in daylight, and had threatened with de- 
struction all liritish merchantmen and neutrals found near the 
British Isles. 

Fac(;d by such a situation it was unreasonable to expect 
(fycut Britain and her Allien to remaiji bound by rules and 
jjriru-i})l(;:s whifli thf;y recognized as just if iuipartially ob- 
served as between belligerents, but were o[jenly set at de-fiance 
by the enemy. 

Germany biiving suggested that the T.'nited States whould 
seek a way to niake the Declaration of Lonrlon respected, and 
to remove the grounds which made lier course of action nec(is- 
sary, the Secretary of State on Fe};ruary 20 addressed identical 
notes to Great Jiritain and Germany suggesting a basis of set- 
tlement. 

In view, each said, of the correnpondence \vliic;h had passed 
between the United States find Grr-at, i>rilai/i and Germany 
relative to the wai- zone enclosed by Gf;rmany and the use of 
neuti-al flags by British rnfjrchantmen, tlie Gove)7jment of thf; 
United States ventured to express a hope that the two belliger- 
ent govf;rnmr'nts might i'f;ach a basis for an agree-ment which 
would relieve neutral vessels from the dangers which beset 
them in watei-s adjacent to the coasts of the belligerents, 'i'his 
basis might be i'f;ached by reciprocal concessions, and as a means 
of drawing forth the views of the tw<j belligerents tho United 
States would suggest : 

1. That neither sow floating mines on the high seas, or in 
territorial waters; that neither plant on the high seas, anchored 
mines save within cannon range of harbors; that all mines bear 
the stamp of thr- Government planting them ; and be so con- 
structed as to become harmless if they driftc^l from their 
moorings. 



76 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

2. That neither use submarines to attack merchantmen 
save for the purpose of visit and search. 

3. That each forbid its merchant ships to use neutral flags 
as a iiise de guerre. 

Germany was to agree that all foodstuffs sent to her from 
the United States shall be consigned to agencies designated by 
the United States ; that these American agencies shall have en- 
tire charge of the receipt and distribution of all importations; 
that they should be distributed to none but retailers having 
licenses from the German Government; and that such food- 
stuffs will not be requisitioned by the German Government for 
any purpose whatsoever. 

Great Britain was to agree that food and foodstuffs will 
not be made absolute contraband, nor interfered with nor de- 
tained if consigned to the American agencies in Germany, and 
distributed by them to licensed German retailers for the use 
solely of noncombatants. 

February 28, the German Government answered that it was 
prepared to make the declaration concerning floating mines, and 
the construction of anchored mines, and affix a Government 
stamp to all that were laid; but did not think it possible to 
fully renounce the use of anchored mines for purposes of of- 
fense. 

German submarines, it was willing to agree, should use 
force against merchant vessels of whatever flag only in so far 
as necessary to carry out the right of visit and search. Should 
the enemy character of the ship, or the presence of contraband 
be proved, the submarine must be free to act according to inter- 
national law. All this, however, was "contingent on the fact" 
that the enemy merchant ships did not use neutral flags or 
other "neutral distinctive marks." They must also be unarmed 
and not resist by force. 

"The regulation of legitimate importations of food into 
Germany" suggested by our Government seemed to be in gen- 
eral acceptable. But such regulations must be confined to im- 
portations by sea, and to indirect importations by way of neu- 
tral ports. The German Government was therefore willing to 
make the declarations provided for in the American note, so 
that the importation of food and foodstuffs solely for the non- 



NEUTRAL TRADE 77 

combatant population would be guaranteed. But the enemy 
governments must also allow the free importation into Ger- 
many of the raw materials on the free list of the Declaration 
of London. 

March 1, the Allies, Great Britain and France, announced 
their policy towards Germany because of her submarine block- 
ade. Germany, they said, had declared the waters around the 
British Isles, the English Channel and the north and west 
coasts of France a war zone, and had claimed the right to 
torpedo without warning any merchant vessel under any flag. 
As Germany could not maintain any surface craft in these 
waters the attack must be by submarine. The law and customs 
of nations had always required that the captor bring his prize 
before a prize court, where the regularity of the capture may 
be challenged. The responsibility of discriminating between 
neutral and enemy ships had always rested with the captor. So 
also the duty of providing for the safety of the crew and pas- 
sengers. But the German submarine observes none of these 
obligations. She does not take her prize into any court, uses 
no means to discriminate between neutral and enemy property, 
does not receive on board for safety the crew of the vessel she 
sinks. The German declaration substitutes indiscriminate de- 
struction for regulated capture. Her opponents are, therefore, 
driven to retaliation in order to prevent commodities of any 
sort reaching Germany. These measures, however, will be en- 
forced without risk to neutral property or the lives of non- 
combatants. The British and French Governments will be free 
to detain and take into ports ^hips carrying goods of presumed 
enemy declaration, but will not confiscate such vessels and car- 
goes unless they would otherwise be liable to confiscation. 

Great opposition was made to this announcement in our 
country. A strong protest by the Government was expected, 
for the effect was to end our commerce with Germany. 

March 5, the Secretary of State addressed a note to each of 
the belligerents asking how the embargo on commerce with Ger- 
many was to be carried into effect. The intent seemed to be 
to take into custody all vessels trading with Germany whether 
outgoing or incoming. This was in effect a blockade of Ger- 
man ports. E'evertheless the rule of blockade that a ship at- 



78 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

tempting to break this blockade may, regardless of its cargo, 
be condemned is not asserted. Great Britain and France, it 
was declared, were to be ''free to detain and take into ports 
ships carrying goods of presumed enemy destination, ownership 
or origin. But neither vessels nor cargoes were to be con- 
fiscated unless otherwise liable to condenmation." 

The first sentence asserted a right arising only from a 
state of blockade. The last sentence proposes "a treatment of 
ships and cargoes as if no blockade existed." 

By the rules governing the export of enemy goods from an 
enemy country' only enemy goods in enemy bottoms are subject 
to seizure. Yet the declaration proposes to seize and take into 
port all goods of enemy ownership and origin. 

The use of the word ''origin" was significant. Except in 
case of blockade the origin of goods found in neutral ships on 
their way to neutral countries had never been a ground for for- 
feiture. Delay, then, and nothing else could come from such 
seizure. What would be done with such cargoes if found to 
belong to a neutral ? If found to belong to an enemy ? Would 
there be different rules for different ownership ? 

The United States was fully alive to the fact that the sub- 
marine might make the old-fashioned means of blockade impos- 
sible. But there should be some limit to the ''radius of ac- 
tivity." "It would certainly create a serious state of affairs, 
if, for example, an American vessel laden with a cargo of 
German origin should escape the British patrol in European 
waters only to be held up by a cruiser oif New York and taken 
into Halifax." 

France replied on March 14 : "As well stated in the Amer- 
ican note, the old methods of blockade could not be entirely 
adopted because of the use of the submarine by Germany, and 
the geographical situation of that country. Because of the 
declaration of war zone along the coasts of Great Britain and 
of France, on the Channel, the allied Government had been 
forced to cut off all maritime communication with the German 
Empire" and thus keep it blockaded by the naval power of the 
two Allies. 

The Government of the Republic, therefore, reserved the 
right to bring into a French or allied poi-t, any ship carrying 



NEUTRAL TRADE 79 

a cargo of presumed German origin, destination or ownership. 
But no neutral ship would be seized unless it carried contra- 
band. Should a neutral prove his ownership of goods destined 
for Germany he might dispose of them subject to certain re- 
strictions. If the owner of the goods were a German they 
would be sequestered during the war. Goods of enemy origin 
would not be sequestered unless owned by an enemy. Goods 
belonging to neutrals would be held at the disposal of the 
owner to be returned to the port of departure. 

Great Britain, by way of reply, sent a copy of new Orders 
in Council to be issued March 15, and stated that the purpose 
of the British Government was "to establish a blockade to 
prevent vessels carrying goods for or coming from Germany." 
ReluWant to exact from neutral ships all the penalties of a 
breach of blockade, the belligerent right to confiscate ships or 
cargoes would n(it be exercised, but merely the cargoes stopped 
on their way to or from the enemy's country. It was "not in- 
tended to interfere with neutral vessels carrying enemy cargoes 
of noncontraband nature outside European waters, including 
the Mediterranean." 

On the same day, March 15, on which Mr. Page received 
the copy of the Order in Council and the note, he was handed 
a long memorandum dated March 23, in reply to the American 
note suggesting a basis of concession. 

It appeared, Sir Edward Grey said, from the answer of 
Germany to the suggestion, that she would not cease sinking 
British merchant vessels by submarines, nor abandon the use 
of mines for offensive purposes on the high seas. The British 
Government might, therefore,, mako no further reply than to 
take note of the German answer. But the British Govern- 
ment desired "to take the opportunity of making a fuller state- 
ment of the whole position, and of our feeling w^ith regard 
to it." 

The United States wished to see the war conducted accord- 
ing to the rules of international law and the dictates of human- 
ity. Such had been the conduct of the British forces. No 
instance of improper proceedings, either in the conduct of hos- 
tilities, or the treatment of prisoners or wounded, could be laid 
to the charge of British forces on land or sea. 



80 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

On the German side it had been different : 

1. "The treatment of civilian inhabitants in Belgium and 
the north of France had been made public," by the French and 
Belgian Governments "and by those who have had experience 
of it first hand. Modern history afforded no other instance 
of such suffering inflicted on a defenseless and noncombatant 
people." 

2. From time to time terrible accounts had been received 
of the barbarous treatment of British prisoners on their way 
to German prison camps. 

3. Germany had laid mine fields in the high seas without 
warning and many neutral and British vessels had been sunk 
by these. 

4. Submarines had stopped and sunk British merchant- 
men so many times that the sinking of such vessels had become 
a German practice. A German armed cruiser had sunk an 
American ship, the William P. Frye, carrying wheat from 
Seattle to Queenstown. Her cargo should not have been con- 
demned without the decision of a prize court, nor should the 
vessel have been sunk. The fortified, open and defenseless 
towns, as Scarborough, Yarmouth and Whitby, have been bom- 
barded, and civilians, including women and children, killed. 
German air craft have dropped bombs on the east coast of 
England. 

It is said that British naval authorities have laid anchored 
mines. They have, but the mines were so constructed that 
they would be harmless if they went adrift. Nor had this been 
done until long after the Germans had made it a regular prac- 
tice to sow mines in the high seas. 

It had been said that the British Governmrant had departed 
from their old position that foodstuffs should not be interfered 
with when destined for a civil population. The charge was 
based on the fact that the cargo of the Wilhehnina had been 
submitted to a prize court. Why this was done had already 
been explained to the United States. 

The Government of Great Britain and that of France had 
frankly declared their intention to meet German attempts to 
stop supplies of every sort from leaving or entering British or 
French ports, "by themselves stopping supplies going to or from 



NEUTRAL TRADE 81 

Germany. The British fleet has instituted a blockade effec- 
tively controlling by cruiser cordon all passes to or from Ger- 
many by sea." 

The difference between the two policies is that Great 
Britain proposes to attain her end without sacrificing neutral 
ships, taking the lives of noncombatants "or inflicting upon 
neutrals the damage that must be entailed when a vessel and 
its cargo are sunk without notice, examination or trial. 

One important fact, said the critics, clearly established by 
the notes, is the admission that the cutting off of trade with 
Germany is a blockade. Of this no neutral, no matter how 
much its trade may suffer, can complain. Whether a blockade 
can 'be- established at so great a distance from an enemy's ports 
is another question. But the promise that ships carrying car- 
goes to German ports will not be confiscated, and that neutral 
vessels out of German waters will not be molested, jnakes the 
question of little importance. That neither power "will depart 
from its position is certain, and nothing short of the use of 
force remains for the United States save protest. 



CHAPTER IV 



SUBMAEINE FRIGHTFULNESS 



February 18, 1915, the German war zone proclamation 
went into eflFect and the campaign of frightfuhiess on the sea 
opened at once. The Secretary of State, in his note, had de- 
clared that the United States wonhl "hold the Imperial Ger- 
man .Government to strict accountability" if American ships 
were sunk without warning-, and would take steps '"to safeguard 
American lives and property and to secure American citizens 
the full enjoyment of their rights on the high seas." But 
Germany cared nothing whatever for the warning and on the 
twentieth of the month the Evelyn was sunk oif the Borkum 
Islands, and three days later the Carih went down off the coast 
of Germany. Both were American vessels laden with cotton 
for Bremen and each was destroyed by a German mine. The 
first case of deliberate sinking of an American vessel became 
known on March 10, when the German auxiliary cruiser Prinz 
Eitel Friedricli, to the astonishment of the whole country, en- 
tered Newport News and her commander reported that he had 
sunk the American vessel William P. Fnje. 

The Prinz Eitel Friedricli sailed from Tsing Tau and while 
cruising in the south Atlantic fell in with the Frye on January 
27, put an armed force aboard and took possession. 

Wheat was not contraband, but the commander of the cruiser 
decided it was and ordered the cargo thrown into the sea. On 
February 28, finding this proceeding too slow, he ordered the 
crew aboard his ship and sank the Frye with gun fire. 

March 28, when south of St. George's Channel, the British 
ship Falaha, out of Liverpool, bound for the west coast of 
Africa, was attacked by a German submarine and five minutes 
allowed the passengers and crew, some 250 in number, to take 
to the lifeboats. But before even that short time elapsed a 
torpedo struck near the engine room, exploded, killed many, 

82 



SUBMARINE I'RIGHTFULXESS 8S 

and in ten minutes the Falaba sank. Among the passengers 
lost was an American citizen, Mr. Leon Thrasher, on his way 
to Africa. 

Another instance of defiance was the case of the German 
merchant ship Odenwald. After lying in the port of San Juan, 
Porto Rico, since the opening of the war, her Captain decided 
to take the risk of going to sea and applied for a clearance. 
It was not given, whereupon the Captain started for sea with- 
out a clearance, was fired on by the fort and forced to turn 
back. 

The German Embassy at once requested an investigation 
and gave its own version of the affair. The Captain, it was 
said, had asked clearance papers for Hamburg, and the Oden- 
luald was twice searched under orders from Washington. The 
result was satisfactory to the Custom House authorities and 
papers were promised. After waiting three days without re- 
ceiving any, the Captain, fearing the enemy cruisers would 
assemble off the port, started for sea without his papers, and 
was fired on from the Morro Castle without the usual "blind 
shot" of warning. That he should defy the laws of the United 
States and attempt to leave the port in an unlawful manner was 
of no importance to the German Ambassador. That the Oden- 
wald was fired on before a blank shot had been sent across her 
bows was a grievance to be investigated. 

Clearance papers. Secretary Bryan replied, had been with- 
held under orders from Washing-ton; the Captain of the Oden- 
icald had twice been warned not to leave without his papers 
lest he be fired on from the fort, and in defiance of the warning 
had raised anchor and started for sea on the afternoon of 
March 21. As he passed close to the San Augustine Bastion, 
the officer in command hailed him several times ; but the 
Odenwald went on her way and some 75 shots from a machine 
gun were fired and fell in front and short of her. Lest vessels 
ahead of her should be injured 15 shots were fired astern of the 
Odenwald. These were small solid shot, were not intended to, 
and did not, strike her, and were used as a warning because 
blank cartridges could not be used in a machine gun. As the 
Odenwald gave no heed to the warning, a shot was fired from a 
4.7 inch gun on the Morro Castle, and struck the water 300 



84 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

yards in front of her and short of her projected course. She 
then stopped and was brought back to her anchorage. Bj her 
attempt to leave port "without papers" she "committed a willful 
breach of the navigation laws of the United States." 

A claim for $228,059.44 damages in the case of the Frye 
having been promptly presented, Herr von Jagow replied that 
the wheat was consigned to Queenstown, Falmouth, or Plym- 
outh "to order" ; that each of these ports was strongly fortified 
and served as a base for the British naval forces and that 
the commander, therefore, "acted quite in accordance with the 
principles of international law as laid down in the Declaration 
of London and the German prize ordinance." Wheat, von 
Jagow held, was food, was conditional contraband, and because 
it was on its way to a fortified port was to be considered as 
destined for the armed forces of the enemy and became con- 
traband. 

The sinking of the ship was permissible "since it was not 
possible for the auxiliary cruiser to take the prize into a Ger- 
man port" without endangering his own operations. The legal- 
ity of the measures taken by the commander of the cruiser 
would be examined by a prize court as soon as the ship's 
papers were received. But Article XIIL, of the Prussian- 
American treaty of 1799, and Article X,II., of the treaty of 
1828, provided that contraband belonging to the subjects or 
citizens of either party could not be confiscated by the other, 
but only detained or used subject to payment of full value. 
Because of these Articles the owners of ship and cargo would 
be compensated even if the court decided the cargo contra- 
band. 

The prize court found that the cargo was contraband, that 
the Frye could not have been taken into port, that the sinking 
was therefore justified, and the German Government was liable 
for damages; but the court could not fix the amount for lack 
of necessary information. An interchange of notes now fol- 
lowed and months passed away before it was agreed that the 
matter of damages should be settled by two experts; that if 
they disagreed an umpire should be appointed, and that the 
difference over the interpretation of the treaty should be sub- 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 85 

mitted to arbitration. With this the case rested and nothing 
more had been done when we entered the war. 

Concerning the Falaba, the German Embassy on April 6 
announced that the Ambassador had received from Berlin this 
official message: 

"A report from the submarine has not yet been received. 
However, according to trustworthy reports the submarine re- 
quested the steamship Falaha to put passengers and crew into 
lifeboats when other ships came up. Lately English merchant 
ships have been provided with guns by the British Govern- 
ment and advised to warn or otherwise attack German sub- 
marines. This advice has repeatedly been followed in order to 
win promised rewards. Military necessity, consequently, forced 
the submarine to act quickly, which made granting of longer 
space of time and the saving of lives impossible. 

"The German Government regrets sacrifices of human lives, 
but both British ships and neutral passengers on board such 
ships were warned urgently and in time not to cross the war 
zone. Kesponsibility rests, therefore, with the British Gov- 
ernment which, contrary to international law, inaugurated com- 
mercial war against Germany and, contrary to international 
law, has caused merchant ships to offer armed resistance." 

And now the Prmz Eitel Friedrich was interned. As soon 
as possible after her entrance a survey of the ship was made to 
determine what repairs were needed and fourteen working days, 
dating from March 20, were allowed in which to make them. 
At midnight on April 6, they must be finished, and twenty-four 
hours later, at midnight on April 7, she must leave the waters 
of the United States or be interned for the duration of the 
war. As the time for departure drew near a great show of 
preparation was made. Coal and provisions were taken aboard, 
the band played German airs, and it seemed she would sail 
early in April. But she did not and when the time expired 
her Captain announced that he feared capture if he went to 
sea, and the Prinz Eitel Friedrich was formally interned on 
April 10. 

The next day, April 11, the German sea raider Kronprinz 
Wilhelm also arrived at Newport News. She had slipped out 
of Hoboken on August 3, 1914, had found the Karlsruhe wait- 



86 THE UNITED STATES IN THK WORM) WAR 

ing for her tit sea with a new t'a])tain, two guns and 50 men, 
and during 251 days had roamed the sea as a raider. Two 
more guns were taken from a prize. Her prizes were fifteen 
in nuniher, ten British, four Freneh and one Norwegian. She 
also was interned on A})ril 2iK 

On the tweuty-eighth of April, a German aerophme dropped 
three houd)s on the American sti>anier Cushing. From the story 
tokl by h(>r Captain, it appears she was steaming along at 
eleven knots an hour in the Nortli Sea when an aeroplane was 
seen circling around her. It was early in the evening and broad 
daylight and the nuiltese cross and the German colors were 
plainly seen on the aeroplane a thousand feet above the ship. 
Suddenly a waterspout rose about a foot oif the port quarter 
and tons of water came on deck. Then a second spout rose in 
the same position and about the same distance from the 
Cushiiu). Tlie crew were ordered to shelter just as a third 
bomb struck the rail near the smokestack, ex})loded, and splin- 
ters flew about the deck, several passing through the American 
ensign. 

Three days later the .Vmerican oil tank steamship Guljiight 
when off the Seilly Islands on her way from Port Arthur, 
Texas, to Kouen, France, w'as torpedoed by a German sub- 
marine but did not sink. Her captain died from shock, and 
ten of her crew who jumped overboard were drowned. The 
rest of the crew were taken off by a patrol boat, and the Gulf- 
liglii was towed into Crow Sound and beached. 

The attack was made on Saturday, the lirst of May, and on 
that day this notice appeared in th(> newsjiapcrs: 

"NOTICE! 

"Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are 
reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her 
allies and Great Britain and her allies ; that the zone of war 
includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in ac- 
cordance with formal notice given by the Imi)erial German 
Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or of any 
of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 87 

travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or 
her allies do so at their own risk. 

''IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY, 
"Washington, D. C, April 22, 1915." 

The story of the origin of that famous notice has since been 
told by My. John R. Rathom, Editor of the Providence Jour- 
nal. When the war opened in 1914, and spread from nation 
to nation, Mr. Rathom, convinced that the German Government 
would at once begin an organized propaganda to consolidate the 
German-Americans in the United States and that in this at- 
tempt Germany would stop at nothing, determined to discover 
the plots and activities of the German and Austrian officials 
in the United States, and succeeded in placing secretly a dozen 
trusted agents i:i as many important German and Austrian 
offices. One secured a post in the German Embassy in Wash- 
ington; the others were placed in the German consulates in 
Boston, in New Orleans, in Denver and St. Louis; in the Ger- 
man consulates-general in New York, Chicago and San Fran- 
cisco; in the Austrian consulate in Cleveland and in the Aus- 
trian consulates-general in New York, Chicago and Philadel- 
phia. From these men came, almost daily, documents and re- 
ports which revealed every phase of scores of German plots, 
great and small, and every phase of German propaganda, and 
furnished evidence which drove more than one German official 
out of the country or sent him to jail.^ 

But the Providence Journal also maintained a wireless sta- 
tion which at two o'clock on the morning of April 29, 1915, 
caught a code message from Nauen to Sayville, which read: 

''From Berlin Foreign Office, 

To Botschaft, W^ashington. 
669 (ll-W) Welt nineteen fifteen warne 175, 29, 1 stop 
175 1 2 stop durch 622 2 4 stop 19 7 18 stop LIX 11 3 4 5 6." 

It created, Mr. Rathom states in his account in the World's 
Work, "great interest in the Journal office because it followed 

' For the story of the work of Mr. Ratliom and his men see the World's 
Work, December, 1917, February. March, etc., 1918, 



88 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

none of the known codes and in form was unlike any other 
(t message that had been received at Sayville up to that time." 
"Every attempt to decipher it failed until somebody with a line 
on the internal activities of the German Embassy remembered 
that on the morning of April 29 Prince Hatzfeldt had been 
hunting for a New York World Almanac. The first two words 
of the message 'Welt 1915' supplied the clue and, following 
the numbers as representing page, line, and word in the World 
Almanac J the Journal men decoded the message as follows: 
'Warn Lusitania passenger (s) through press not voyage across 
the Atlantic' " 

The notice, dated April 22, was sent on that day by the 
Councilor of the German Embassy to an advertising agent 
in Washington with the request to ''have it printed as an ad- 
vertisement in the newspapers on the enclosed list once a week 
during the next three or four weeks," and May 1, with the date 

I April 22 unchanged, it was inserted in the newspapers under 
the advertisement of the Cunard Line, giving notice of the sail- 
ing of the Lusitania on May 1. i The warning was general. No 
vessel was named ; but the wireless message shows that the Lusi- 
tania had been deliberately chosen for destruction and that it 

. was her passengers that were to be warned. 

No official at Washington would comment on the attack on 
the Cusliing and Gul flight. But coming so soon after the cau- 
tion of the German Embassy, and despite the President's notice 
to Germany, they were admitted to form the most serious inci- 
dent that had arisen between the United States and any bel- 
ligerent. The President had told the German Government that 
"if the commanders of Gerinan vessels of war should act upon 
the presumption that the flag of the United States was not being 
used in good faith and should destroy on the high seas an Amer- 
ican vessel, or the lives of American citizens, it would be dif- 
ficult for the Government of the United States to view the act 
in any other light than as an indefensible violation of neutral 
rights." 

Did not the attack on the Gulflight and the consequent loss 
of life constitute "an indefensible violation of neutrality" ? 
But the Government must make sure of the facts. The Secre- 
tary of State pointed out that the American consul at Plym- 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 89 

outh, England, in reporting the attack on the Gulfliglit did not 7) 
give his authority, and that his message read as if he were re- 
porting on information given by another. A full report would 
therefore be called for, from the consul, and Ambassador 
Gerard would be instructed to make inquiry of the German 
Government. 

By many of our countrymen meantime the attack was re- 
garded as justifying a suspicion that the German Government 
was making persistent efforts to irritate the United States, Re- 
cent occurrences led to the belief that Germany had begun to 
show her resentment because of the shipment of arms to her 
enemies, and the widespread sympathy for the cause of the 
Allies. The von Bernstorff note, the manner of its publication, 
and the warning to Americans not to take passage on ships un- 
der the flags of Great Britain or any of her Allies, all pointed, 
it was said, to such animosity on the part of Germany. What 
was she doing? Why should she spend so much money in 
trying to gain the support and sympathy of America and then 
by ofiicial acts and utterances deliberately injure her cause? 
Did Germany now think that threats would succeed where 
pleadings had failed? Was she seeking the enmity of the 
whole world as a good reason for peace? 

The meaning of the warning notice from the German Em- 
bassy printed in the newspapers of May 1 and repeated in 
many of them on May 8, now became apparent. On 
May 1 the Cunard mail steamship Lusitania sailed from 
New York, with 1,251 passengers and a crew of 667. On May 
7, when eight miles off Old Head of Kinsale, or the south 
coast of ilreland, she was struck by two torpedoes discharged 
from a German submarine, and in a few minutes foundered 
and went down bow first. ISTo warning was given. Many of 
the passengers were at luncheon; but in the few minutes be- 
fore she sank such as could found a refuge in 'ten life boats. 
The wireless operator sent call after call for help, and tugs, '9 
steam trawlers, every available vessel was hurried from Queens- 
town. Of the 1,918 human beings on board 1,153 were 
drowned. Of the 188 Americans, 114 men, women and chil- 
dren lost their lives. Among them were many men well knovsm 
in tkeir walks in life. 



90 THK UNITED STATES IX THE WORLD WAR 

No event since the sinking of the Maine so stirred the coun- 
try. A cry of mingled horror and rage rose from every part 
of it. Beyond all douht, it was said, the destruction of the 
Lusitania was carefully and deliberately planned. The warn- 
ing notice in the newspapers it now appears had been preceded 
by anonymous letters and telephone messages to many of the 
passengers. American citizens traveling peacefully had been 
sent to their death by the deliberately planned act of Em- 
peror William and his advisers. America must and will resent 
this invasion of her rights. The Government is in duty bound, 
emphatically, without shrinking from the proper epithets, to 
denounce the greatest international outrage of modern times. 

By the German language press the deed was justified. Said 
one journal, W^ar is war. A nation forced to fight for life 
against a world of enemies should not be guided by sentiment. 
The Lusitania, loaded to its capacity with explosives, ammuni- 
tion, war material, was, to the Germans, a warship. To accept 
passengers under such circumstances was a crime of the worst 
kind. Considering the character of the cargo, some of it was 
picric and liable to explode at the slightest shock, it may well 
be that an inside explosion wrought the destruction of the 
Lusitania. Survivors tell of asphyxiating gases. Torpedoes 
do not produce them, but they can be traced back to the horrible 
explosives in the hold. Does not this show that it was simply 
an atrocious crime to carry men, women and children in such 
a ship? If Americans wish to go to Europe and use neutral 
vessels not carrying contraband of war they will be perfectly 
safe. 

Another, the Cincinnati Freic Presse, remarked that the 
Lusitania was a British, not an American, ship ; that American 
passengers knew their lives were in danger because they had 
been warned ; that having taken the risk after ample warning, 
there was no cause for complaint now that the ship was sunk 
and lives lost. Said a third, the Chicago Ahendpost, responsi- 
bility for the loss of the Lusitania and American lives rests 
with Great Britain. The steamer, armed, commanded by a 
naval officer, freighted with ammunition, was clearly subject 
to attack within the war zone. 

AVhou the news was carried by a reporter to the office of 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 91 

the German consul in Philadelphia it was received with cheers. 
German-Americans everywhere found the sinking of the ship 
a cause for rejoicing. The jDassengers who were drowned, they 
held, should not have been on board. 

Dr. Dernburg, now accepted as the Kaiser's spokesman in 
America, took this view of the matter. "Any ship," he said 
in an interview, "carrying goods to Great Britain is to be 
sunk." It was "the usage of war that vessels could be stopped, 
seized and searched. Vessels that carried contraband could be 
destroyed if they could not be taken into port. It has been 
customary to give innocent people warning and a chance to 
get awa}'. A submarine is only one hundred and fifty feet 
long; it has no accommodations for others than its crew of 
probably twenty-four men. Consequently it is unable to take 
off passengers." 

"Any American traveling on an American boat under the 
American flag will be safe. There are, moreover, any number 
of neutral ships. There is also this condition, an American 
ship or any other neutral vessel must carry no munitions of 
war. It is easy for an American who wants to travel to find 
out what a ship carries. All ships make their manifests to 
the Custom House and they are public. 

"Everybody takes a risk if they want to. Anybody can 
commit suicide if they want to. 

"We have done and will do the best we can to avoid such 
trouble, but we cannot allow Americans to be used as shields 
to get articles of war into the hands of its Allies. The death 
of the Americans might have been avoided if our warning had 
been heeded. We put in advertisements and were careful to 
put them in next the advertisements of the Cunard Line's 
sailing dates." 

As feeling rose higher and higher, What will the Govern- 
ment do ? was asked on every hand. Some thought Congress 
should be assembled as quickly as possible. Some thought 
the German Ambassador should at once be handed his pass- 
ports. Others were for a declaration of war against Germany. 
Senators and Eepresentatives when asked by the 'New York 
Tunes and Philadelphia Ledger for their views advised the 
people to be calm, and forego hasty action while the facts were 



92 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

investigated. "Every one should recognize the folly of urging 
hasty or precipitate action." ''The situation does not call for 
the assembly of Congress." "The sinking of the Lusitania is 
an awful thing to contemplate, and the feeling of resentment 
may raise our blood to the boiling point. But let us place our 
confidence in the President of the United States. lie has kept 
us free from entangling alliances so far." "Let us handle the 
present situation with patience and calmness, trusting to the 
President to take the proper course." 

As soon as possible the German Foreign Office dispatched a 
note to the Embassy to be delivered to Secretary Bryan. 

The German Government [the note reads] desires to express its 
deepest sympathy at the loss of lives on board the Lusitaniu,. The 
responsibility rests, however, with the British Government, which, 
through its plan of starving the civilian population of Germany, has 
forced Germany to resort to retaliating measures. 

In spite of the German oifer to stop the submarine war in case 
the starvation plan was given up, British merchant vessels are being 
generally armed with guns, and have repeatedly tried to ram subma- 
rines, so that a previous search was impossible. [Moreover, the 
Lusitania on her last voyage "carried 5,400 cases of ammunition, while 
the rest of the cargo consisted chiefly of contraband."] 

If England, after repeated official and unofficial warnings, consid- 
ered herself able to declare that that boat ran no risk, and thus light- 
heartedly assume responsibility for the human life on board a 
steamship which, owing to its armament and cargo, was liable to 
destruction, the German Government, in spite of its heartfelt sym- 
pathy for the loss of American lives, cannot but regret that Americans 
felt more inclined to trust to English promises than to pay attention 
to the warnings from the German side. 

Two months after this note was received, July 17, the 
Providence Journal announced that from translations of Say- 
ville wireless messages in its possession it appeared that the 
warijing was not only sent out by the German Embassy, but the 
very text was provided by the Admiralty, and it "was sent out 
from Berlin six days before it actually appeared in the news- 
papers." "The message also shows that the first official knowl- 
edge in the possession of the German Government as to the 
character of the cargo of the Lusitania reached it three days 
after that ship was sunk. 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 93 

''On May 10, the following message was sent over the 
Sayville wireless station by Captain Boy-Ed to the head of the 
Admiralty Department in Berlin: 

"Your message of the thirtieth of April was given to American 
travelers in all important newspapers in the United States, warn- 
ing them from the war zone and the use of English steamers. The 
Lusitania had 5,400 cases of ammunition on board and her cargo 
was almost exclusively contraband, with a total value of about 
3,000,000 marks." 

The note from the Foreign Office served bnt to confirm the 
belief that the Lusitania had been deliberately chosen for 
destruction, that the attack had been carefully planned, and 
that the notice had been given for no other purpose than to 
enable the German Government to say that American lives 
would not have been lost had American travelers paid "atten- 
tion to the warnings from the German side." To this the ISTcw 
York World answered: "The fact that A formally announces 
his intention to murder B at three o'clock to-morrow after- 
noon does not make the subsequent murder of B an innocent 
or justifiable act." At Kinsale, the coroner's jury which inves- 
tigated the cause of the deaths from the sinking of the Lusi- 
tania, in its verdict said: "We also charge the officers of said 
submarine and the Emperor and Government of Germany, 
under whose orders they acted, with the crime of wholesale 
murder before the tribunal of the civilized world." 

A resolution adopted by the House of Kepresentatives of 
Pennsylvania described the sinking of the Lusitania and its 
attendant horrors as "a deed unknown by the laws of war, or 
the principles of civilization," and an "affront to the American 
nation," such as called for action to obtain reparation; con- 
demned the action of the German nation as "a dastardly deed 
worthy of none save a barbarous and uncivilized nation," and 
demanded an apology from Germany, full reparation for the 
loss of American lives and property, and guarantees that such 
"a cowardly action will never again be permitted by it to 
occur." A resolution introduced into the Pennsylvania Senate 
declared that the Imperial German Government, by the sinking 
of the Frye, by the drowning of Mr. Thrasher on the Falaha, 



9i THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

by the sinking of the Gulflight, and the sinking of the Lusi- 
tania, had shown its utter indifference to the safety of the lives 
and property of citizens of the United States, and pledged the 
support of the Commonwealth to the President in any measures 
he might take to uphold the honor, dignity and safety of the 
nation. 

In Tennessee, resolutions of support were also adopted. At 
ISTew York City, the sons of political leaders and of men fore- 
most in professional life signed a message to the President 
stating their ccmviction *'that national interests and honor im- 
peratively require adequate measures both to secure reparation 
for the past violations by Germany of American rights and 
secure guarantees against" violations in the future. 

On the tenth of May the President came to Philadelphia 
for the especial purpose of addressing some four thousand 
newly naturalized citizens on the duties, responsibilities and 
privileges of American citizenship. The occasion was made a 
great one. The meeting was hold in the Convention Hall, was 
presided over by the Mayor of the city and, besides the four 
thousand new citizens, those gathered in the hall numbered 
some sixteen thousand. That the President would use the 
occasion to speak on the nation's foreign relations was fully 
expected. He made no allusion to the Lusitania, he spoke 
solely to the new citizens, and in the course of his speech used 
some expressions which went round the world. 

"The example of America," he said, "must be a special 
example. The example of America must be an example not 
of peace because it will not fight, but of peace because peace is 
the healing and elevating influence of the world and strife is 
not. There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. 
There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not 
need to convince others by force that it is right." 

The words "too proud to fight" were understood both at 
home and abroad to refer to the Lusitania crime, and to define 
the policy of the President towards Germany. Under no cir- 
cumstances will the Government permit its indignation over 
the drowning of Americans on the Lusitania to lead to war with 
Germany, was the common interpretation. This was not his 
meaning, the President told callers who came to the White 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 95 

House on the day after the speech. He did not, he said, con- 
sider the Philadelphia meeting a proper occasion on which to 
give any intimation of policy on any special matter. He was 
defining a personal attitude, but did not have anything specific 
in mind. 

''President Wilson," said the London Evening Standard, 
*'is a high-minded man and we can understand what he meant 
by this rather unpolitical remark — 'too proud to fight.' Un- 
fortunately, Germany does not understand this kind of right- 
eousness." The London Sta?' thought the words meant that 
"the guilt of those who murdered American citizens on board 
the Lusitania is so manifest that America can rely on the 
righteousness of her cause without drawing the sword to defend 
it." All England was waiting to see what the President would 
do, and so was all America. There were those who insisted 
that Germany must be held to ''strict accountability," as threat- 
ened in the note of February 10. There were those who held 
"strict accountability" should apply only when American ships 
were sunk and not when Americans lost their lives because 
of the sinking of a merchant ship under the flag of a belligerent. 
There were those who wished to see diplomatic relations broken 
at once; there were those who stood for "peace-at-any-price," 
and there were those who insisted that wo prepare at once for 
the war which was sure to come. 

On May 13, the Department of State made public the first 
Lusitania note, the first also of a series of notes in which the 
President stated and defended the principles of neutrality. 

Because of the recent act of German authorities in viola- 
tion of American rights on the high seas, the note said, it was 
clearly desirable that both Governments come to a "full under- 
standing as to the grave situation which has resulted." The 
sinking of the Falaha, the aeroplane attack on the Cushing, 
the torpedoing of the Gulflight, the destruction of the Liisi- 
tania, formed "a series of events which the Government of the 
United States had observed with growing concern, distress and 
amazement." 

The Government of the United States "was loath to be- 
lieve — it cannot now bring itself to believe — that these acts so 
contrary" to the rules, practices and spirit of inodorn warfare 



96 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

could be sanctioned by the Imperial German Government, and 
felt in duty bound "to address the Imperial German Govern- 
ment concerning them with the utmost frankness." 

The Government of the United States had been informed 
that the Imperial German Government felt compelled "by the 
extraordinary circumstances of the present war, and the meas- 
ures adopted by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany off 
from all commerce, to adopt methods of retaliation which go 
much beyond the ordinary methods of warfare at sea, in the 
proclamation of a war zone from which they have warned neu- 
tral ships to keep away." 

The Government of the United States had already informed 
the Imperial German Government that it could not "admit the 
adoption of such measures or such a warning of danger to 
opQi'ate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights of 
American shipmasters or of American citizens bound on lawful 
errands as passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nation- 
ality; and that it must hold the Imperial German Government 
to a strict accountability for any infringement of those rights, 
intentional or accidental." These rights it did not understand 
the German Government to question. On the contrary, it 
assumed that the German Government "accept as of course the 
rvile that the lives of noncombatants, whether they be of neu- 
tral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations at war, cannot 
lawfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruction of 
an unarmed merchantman, and recognize also, as all other 
nations do, the obligation to take the usual precaution of visit 
and search to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in 
fact of belligerent nationality or is in fact carrying contraband 
of war under a neutral flag." 

Objection to this method of attack, by the Imperial Ger- 
man Government, on "the trade of their enemies" lay in the 
fact that it was not possible to use submarines to destroy com- 
merce without "disregarding those rules of fairness, justice and 
humanity which all modern opinion regards as imperative." 
It was "impossible for the officers of a submarine to visit a 
merchantman at sea and examine her papers and cargo," or 
make a prize of her, or put a prize crew aboard, or "sink her 
without leaving her crew and all on board of her to the mercy 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 97 

of the sea in her small boats. These facts it is understood the 
Imperial German Government frankly admit." In the cases 
of the Falaha, the Gushing, the Gulflight and the Lusitania, 
"even that poor measure of safety was not given, and in at least 
two of the cases cited not so much as a warning was received." 

Kecently there had been published in newspapers in the 
United States a warning, "purporting to come from the Impe- 
rial German Embassy," addressed to the people of the United 
States, stating in effect that if they exercised their "right of 
free travel upon the seas" they did so at their peril if they 
entered the war zone. Reference was not made to this in order 
to call attention "to the surprising irregularity of a communi- 
cation from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington 
addressed to the people of the United States through the news- 
papers," but to point out "that no warning that an unlawful 
and inhuman act will be committed can possibly be accepted 
as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an abatement of the 
responsibility for its commission." 

The Government of the United States could not believe that 
these "acts of lawlessness" were done by submarine commanders 
save "under a misapprehension" of orders, and confidently 
expected, therefore, "that the .Imperial German Government 
will disavow the acts of which the Government of the United 
States complains, that they will make reparation, so far as 
reparation is possible, for injuries which are without measure, 
and that they will take immediate steps to prevent the recur- 
rence of anything so obviously subversive of the principles of 
warfare." Expressions of regret and offers of reparation for 
the destruction of neutral vessels sunk by mistake might satisfy 
international obligations when no lives were lost. They could 
not justify a practice the effect of which was "to subject neu- 
tral nations and neutral persons to new and unmeasurable 
risks." 

"The Imperial German Government will not expect the 
Government of the United States to omit any word or any act 
necessary to the performance of its sacred duty of maintain- 
ing the rights of the United States and its citizens and of safe- 
guarding their free exercise and enjo;yTnent." 

By our countrymen in general the note was heartily ap- 



98 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

proved. The President, it was said, has spoken and spoken to 
the point. Germany cannot have the slightest doubt as to his 
meaning. It is to be held to "strict accountability" as he 
promised it should be. Truly it can no longer expect "the 
Government of the United States to omit any work or any act 
necessary to the performance of the sacred duty of maintain- 
ing the rights of the United States and its citizens, and safe- 
guarding their safe exercise and enjoyment." This was not 
a threat, unless Germany chose to so consider it. The whole 
country resounded with approval of the note. Governors of 
the States, Senators, Representatives, public men in response 
to newspaper queries, declared it to be the duty of every Ameri- 
can to support the President in the firm stand he had taken. 
Here and there a Senator declined to express an opinion or 
dreaded war. One from Nebraska "would not be willing to go 
to war for the purpose of securing to American citizens the 
right to travel in the war zone on an English ship loaded with 
arms and ammunition." Another from California declared 
that, unless we were prepared to go to war, "the protest will 
prove to be an idle thing." He did "not believe our people 
are ready to go to war with Germany for svich a cause." It 
"would be much better for us to stop sending munitions of war 
to the belligerents and be what we loudly proclaimed ourselves 
to be, strictly neutral. It is this violation of the spirit of neu- 
trality that has made most of the trouble." 

The leading newspapers, north, south, east and west, with 
scarce an exception, in editorials, approved the tone and tenor 
of the note. The German-language press gave the President 
no support. Said the Chicago Staats-Z eltung : 

The jingo Anglo-American press is doing its utmost to arouse the 
public to make a demonstration against Germany. Let the Americans 
consider what war would mean. War on Germany hj this country 
would give Japan free rein to seize the Philippines and become mis- 
tress of the Orient. What has been claimed for several months past, 
that this great Republic is the ally of England in fact, if not in name, 
now seems to be fully established. 

Said the Cincinnati Freie Presse: 

The part of the note dealing with the loss of lives in the Lusiiania 
catastrophe more properly ought to have been addressed to London. 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULXESS 99 

England alone is responsible for the Lusitania destruction through 
her brutal threat to starve a nation. We are not obliged and have 
no right to set ourselves up as the protectors of British shipping. 

The Louisville Anzeiger agreed with the President that 
the German Government should "explain the loss of lives of 
American passengers," but did "not think that the loss of 
American lives gives the President the right to demand the 
cessation of Germany's undersea warfare against British com- 
merce." The Cincinnati Volksblatt found the note "disap- 
pointing in that it disregards the just complaints of Germany 
and appears to espouse the cause of Great Britain." The 
Indianapolis Telegraph-Tribune thought it impossible for Ger- 
many "to comply with the President's extravagant demand, 
which amounts to German disarmament on the seas. All that 
will be required to safeguard British armed merchantmen 
carrying contraband will be to put passengers, preferably 
Americans, on board and they will be immune from attacks of 
German submarines. It is a palpable injustice of President 
Wilson to demand that Germany should lay aside its most 
effective weapon of attack." 

The St. Paul V olkszeitung was glad to see the President 
"take such a strong stand for upholding the rights of American 
citizens" and hoped he would "demand that hereafter all coun- 
tries will respect our rights to the sacred freedom of the seas." 

A rumor from Washington that the German Embassy had 
allowed it to be known that the Imperial Government would 
not accept the proposals made by the President was now offi- 
cially denied by Ambassador von Bernstorff. Another that the 
Ambassador intended to warn editors of German newspapers 
to modify their editorial comment, because of strained rela- 
tions with Germany, was scoffed at by the editors concerned. 
Another that, because of speeches and statements made in justi- 
fication of the sinking of the Lusitania, Dr. Dernburg was 
about to leave the United States, the German Embassy admitted 
was true. "He is leaving of his own volition. I do not know 
where he is going," said the Ambassador. 

Feeling in Germany, as expressed in the newspapers by 
prominent men, was that if the United States could so arrange 



100 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

it that British merchant ships no longer sailed under false 
flags, were no longer armed, and that contraband goods were 
no longer protected by American passengers, the United States 
would find Germany on her side in the effort to make sub- 
marine war more humane. If America could not do this, she 
must put up with the submarine war as waged. The sinking 
of the Lusitania, it was hoped, would teach neutrals not to 
travel on British vessels. She must take care that her citizens 
avoid the war zone as they would the firing lines near Arras, 
Lisle or Przemysl. 

To the German Government the destruction of the Lusir 
tania and the loss of lives was a great event. Berlin and other 
cities were decked with flags, the school children were given 
a holiday and a medal was struck to commemorate the event 
and sold by thousands to the people. On one side was a rude 
representation of the Lusitania sinking into the sea, and the 
words, "Ko contraband. The liner Lusitania sunk by a Ger- 
man submarine May 5, 1915." On the other was a long line 
of travelers waiting their turn to buy tickets at a Cunard Com- 
pany's window, behind which stood Death as the ticket agent, 
and the words, "Business as usual." 

Attention at home and overseas was now drawn from the 
Lusitania and the American note to the entrance of Italy into 
the war. Her declaration against Austria was made on May 23, 
and our countrymen were expectantly waiting for what was 
to happen when the newspapers reported that on May 25 the 
American steamship NebrasJcan on her way from Liverpool to 
the Delaware Breakwater, in ballast, had been attacked some 
forty miles west southwest of Fastnet, Ireland, and a huge 
hole blown in her bow. No warning was given and the Cap- 
tain saw no submarine, but he was sure the vessel had been 
torpedoed and had not struck a mine. The flag was down, 
for it was eight o'clock in the evening when the explosion 
occurred ; but it was still light and the name of the vessel was 
painted, in letters six feet high, on each of her sides. 

The crew took to the boats, stood by for a couple of hours, 
and then returned to the Nebrashan and about half-past ten 
headed her for Liverpool. At half-past one in the morning 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 101 

she fell in with two vessels sent to her aid in response to a 
wireless call. One of them went with her to port. 

Our countrymen were astonished. That the German Gov- 
ernment, in the face of the excitement in America, should 
permit a submarine to attack an American vessel and endan- 
ger the lives of an American captain and an American crew, 
was almost unbelievable, unless Germany intended to drive us 
into war. Again feeling rose high, and was not allayed when 
on May 31 the Secretary of State made public the reply of 
von Jagow. 

The American Embassy, he said, in the cases of the Gulf- 
light and Cushing, had been informed tliat the German Gov- 
ernment had no intention of submitting neutral vessels, guilty 
of no hostile acts, to attack in the war zone by submarines or 
airships. If neutral ships had suffered through submarine 
warfare because of mistakes in identification, it was the fault 
of Great Britain's abuse of flags and the suspicious or culpable 
behavior of the masters of the ships. Whenever a neutral ship, 
not itself at fault, had been damaged by German submarines 
or aviators, the German Government had expressed regret and 
offered indemnity. 

The Cushing and the Gulfiight would be treated in this 
manner. An investigation was then under way and it could, 
if necessary, be supplemented by an appeal to the Hague 
Tribunal. The commander of the submarine which sank the 
Falaha intended to give the passengers and crew time to escape. 
Only when the master tried to escape and summoned help by 
rocket signals did the submarine commander order the passen- 
gers and crew to leave the Falaha in ten minutes. He really 
gave twenty-three minutes and fired the torpedo only when sus- 
picious craft were hastening to her aid. 

For the loss of life occasioned by the sinking of the Lusi- 
tania the German Government had ''already expressed to the 
neutral governments concerned its keen regret." 

The United States assumed that the Lusitania was an ordi- 
nary unarmed merchantman. The Lusitania in reality was 
one of the largest and fastest of British merchant ships, was 
an auxiliary cruiser, and was carried as such on the navy list, 
and 'Haad cannon aboard which were mounted and concealed 



102 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

below decks." The British Admiralty, moreover, "in a confi- 
dential instruction issued in February, 1915, recommended its 
mercantile shipping not only to seek protection under neutral 
flags and distingTiishing marks, but also, while thus disguised, 
to attack German submarines by ramming." German subma- 
rine commanders were, therefore, no longer able to observe 
the usual "regl^lations of the prize law." Finally the Lusi- 
tania on her last trip carried Canadian troops and war mate- 
rial, "including no less than 5,400 cases of ammunition 
intended for the destruction of the brave German soldiers." 
The German Government, therefore, believed it was justified 
in "seeking with all the means of warfare at its disposal to 
protect the lives of its soldiers by destroying ammunition 
intended for the enemy." 

The British shipping company, in taking passengers on 
the Lusitania, "attempted deliberately to use the lives of Ameri- 
can citizens as protection for the ammunition aboard and acted 
against the clear provisions of the American law which 
expressly prohibits the forwarding of passengers on ships carry- 
ing ammunition and provides a penalty therefor. The com- 
pany, therefore, is wantonly guilty of the death of so many 
passengers." There could be no doubt that the quick sinking 
of the Lusitania was "primarily attributable to the explosion 
of the ammunition shipment caused by the torpedo. The Lusi- 
tania's passengers would otherwise in all probability have been 
saved." 

The reply was disappointing. The claim that the Lusitania 
was armed had been denied by the Collector of Customs at New 
York. The statement that in all human probability the pas- 
sengers would have been saved had it not been for the explo- 
sion of ammunition in the cargo was not only trivial but false. 
The charge that the Cunard Line and not the German Govern- 
ment was responsible for the loss of life was regarded as a 
quibble. Germany had given no pledge to abandon unrestricted 
submarine warfare, and in charging the Cunard Line with 
using American citizens to protect ammunition and in assert- 
ing that the Lusitania was an auxiliary armed cruiser had 
raised new issues. 

By the press of the oountvy the answer was declared "not 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 103 

responsive to our demand" ; it ''does not meet the issue" ; "it 
is worse than evasion. It is insincere" ; it "will not satisfy 
American opinion" ; "it is an answer which purposely does not 
answer." 

The German-language press found the answer most encour- 
aging. It met every expectation which the American note 
aroused; was courteous, logical, straightforward; touched all 
matters having to do with the violation of American neutral 
rights ; did not discuss Germany's methods of submarine war 
on Great Britain and her Allies, as Germany was in no way 
l)Ound to do. It showed beyond dispute that Germany was 
most anxious to live at peace with America. Germany wished 
to be shown where she was wrong, and fair-minded men would 
concede that the Lusitania being carried on the navy list as an 
auxiliary cruiser, it was but fair to believe that the subma- 
rine's oificer supposed her to be armed. 

If the men in Washington act as prosecuting attorneys, the 
Pittsburgh VoIJishJatt held, it would be a great misfortune. 
The clamor of the mob was to be avoided "just now above all 
times." Calm deliberation was our true policy. The Cin- 
cinnati Freie Presse believed the reply showed that "the hand 
is out for a settlement of differences." It did not say the 
American position was untenable, but asked that facts be 
established. 

Two days after the German note was made public. Ambas- 
sador von Bernstorff requested an interview with the President. 
What took place was not divulged. But the Providence 
Journal, "from an authoritative source," probably its spy at the 
Embassy, gave what it claimed to be "the details of the state- 
ment by the Ajnbassador." He was sure he could obtain from 
the Imperial German Government certain concessions if time 
permitted before the President's answer. The concessions were 
that Germany would stop her attacks on vessels known to carry 
citizens of the United States, if the American Government 
would suggest to our citizens that in future, when going to 
Europe, they should take passage on such ships only as car- 
ried no goods contraband of war; that the German submarines 
would attack no merchant vessels save such as were known to 
be carrying contraband of war; that this would be made easier 



104 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

if the President, by proclamation, would forbid the ships of 
belligerent nations to carry as passengers citizens of the United 
States; and that if the United States would bring about these 
conditions, German submarines would not attack any merchant, 
neutral or belligerent, carrying passengers, whether the ship did 
or did not have contraband goods on board, without first giving 
passengers and crew a chance to seek safety in boats and on 
rafts. 

A statement was current that the Ambassador expressed 
regret that his Government was deprived of means of getting 
confidential reports from him concerning the feeling in the 
United States, aroused by the sinking of the Lusitania, and 
the determination of the President that Germany abandon her 
submarine warfare against merchant ships. The unsatisfac- 
tory character of the German reply, the Ambassador was said 
to have represented, was due to his inability to communicate 
with von Jagow. To this the Providence Journal replied the 
statement was not based on facts. "The Ambassador is not 
only in constant communication with Berlin, both by wireless 
and cables, but he actually read and edited the von Jagow note 
and sent it back to Berlin with some minor changes made by 
himself before it was delivered to Ambassador Gerard." 

Be that as it may. Ambassador von Bernstorff asked permis- 
sion to send to Berlin, through the Department of State in the 
American code, a detailed report on the condition of affairs in 
the United States. The President consented and approved a 
plan to dispatch a special envoy of the German Embassy to 
Berlin to acquaint the German Government with the excited 
feeling in our country caused by the loss of life when the 
Lusitania went down. Dr. Anton Meyer-Gerhardt was chosen, 
and sailed June 3 under safe conduct obtained from the Allies. 

Not long after the sinking of the Lusitania the German 
Ambassador submitted to the Department of State four affi- 
davits to prove that the vessel was armed and was a warship. 
An investigation by the District x^ttorney at N"ew York soon 
brought to light the fact that the affidavits of Gustav Stahl and 
others were obtained by German secret service agents, that 
their operations led directly to the office of Captain Boy-Ed, 
naval attache to the German Embassy, and that the affidavit of 



SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 105 

Stahl, that he had visited the Lusitanla on April 30 and had 
seen four guns, two on the fore deck and two aft, mounted 
on wooden blocks and covered with leather, was false. Stahl 
was accordingly arrested and indicted by a Grand Jury for 
perjury. September 8 Stahl pleaded guilty and was sent to 
prison for eighteen months. 

The reply of von Jagow on May 28 was followed on June 1 
by a note treating of the cases of the Oulflight and Cushing. 
As to the Gul flight, he said, the commander of a German sub- 
marine, on the afternoon of May 1, when near the Scilly 
Islands, saw, coming towards him, a large merchant steamer 
accompanied by two smaller vessels. The position of the two 
was such "that they formed a regular safeguard against sub- 
marine attacks; moreover, one of them had a wireless appa- 
ratus, which is not usual with small vessels." Judging from 
appearances the submarine commander supposed it to be "a case 
of English convoy vessel" and that the steamer must be of 
considerable value to the British Government to be so guarded. 
"The commander could see no neutral markings on it of any 
kind, that is, distinctive marks painted on the free board 
recognizable at a distance." The American flag on the steamer 
was not seen until the shot had been fired. The attack was to 
be "attributed to an unfortunate accident" and not to the fault 
of the commander. The German Government expressed "its 
regi'et to the Government of the United States concerning this 
incident, and declares itself ready to furnish full recompense 
for the damage thereby sustained by American citizens." 

That the Cushing had been attacked was still in doubt. 
From such ofiicial reports as were available it appeared that 
only one merchantman was attacked by German flying machines 
near ^ordhinder Lightship. The German aviator was forced 
to consider the vessel as hostile because no flag, no neutral 
markings were visible. That the Cushing was the ship attacked 
was possible, but the German Government must ask for the 
evidence. 



CHAPTER V 



THE LUSITANIA NOTES 



It was now the duty of tho l^epartmeiit of State to reply 
to the note from von Jagow eoncerninc,' the Cushing, Gul flight 
and Lusitania. That the President was preparing such a reply 
was well known in Washington ; but rumor had it that the 
Cabinet was at odds. Mr. Bryan, it was said, wished a note 
sent to Great Britain demanding all the rights of neutrals un- 
der international law ; did not approve of the length to which 
the President went in his "strict accountability" threat; and 
feared, unless the terms of the new note were modified, or the 
protest sent to Great Britain at the same time, diplomatic 
relations with Germany would be broken. Indeed, he might 
resign. 

On June 8, 1915, Mr. Bryan did resign, and in his letter 
to the President said: ''Obedient to your sense of duty and 
actuated by the highest motives, you have prepared for trans- 
mission to the German Government a note in which I cannot 
join without violating what I deem to be an obligation to my 
country, and the issue involved is of such moment that to 
remain a member of the Cabinet would be as unfair to you 
as it would be to the cause which is nearest my heart, namely, 
the prevention of war." The resignation was "to take eifect 
when the note is sent, unless you prefer an earlier hour." 

Beset by interviewers, as soon as the resignation became 
known, Mr. Bryan said: "The differences between the Presi- 
dent and myself on the question of these notes did not spring up 
suddenly to-day or this week. They have existed since the Fala- 
ha case. We have had many talks about the questions involved, 
and the difference in our attitude has gradually grown wider. 
Finally we agreed to disagree. We decided upon that one day 
last week." 

His act made a great sensation, and because of it he was 

106 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 107 

both praised and heartily condemned. He deserts the Presi- 
dent, said one journal, at a moment of grave international com- 
plication, does all in his power to create prejudice against the 
note about to be sent, and gives aid and comfort to the oppo- 
nents, in Germany and here, of the firm assertion of our rights 
on the sea. ^'The country looks upon Mr. Bryan as a deserter," 
said another. Americans, said a third, understand Mr. Bryan's 
quixotic devotion to his ideals. But Germany does not know 
him as Americans do. It will see in his resignation a divided 
government, a divided people, the one thing Germany has 
sought to bring about since the war began. 

Mr. Robert Lansing, Counselor to the Department of State, 
now became Acting Secretary, and June 9 the note, over his 
name, was started on its way to Berlin. That day Mr. Bryan 
made a further statement of his views. There were, he said, 
two points on which he differed with the President. The first 
was "the suggestion of investigation by an international com- 
mission," The second was "warning Americans against trav- 
eling on belligerent vessels or with cargoes of ammunition." 
We should, he held, "frankly state to Germany that we are 
willing to apply, in this case, the principle which we are bound 
by treaty to apply to disputes between the United States and 
thirty countries." No matter what disputes might arise be- 
tween us and any one of these nations, war must not be declared, 
nor hostilities begin until the matter in dispute has been inves- 
tigated by an international tribunal and one year allowed in 
which to investigate and report. "Germany has always been a 
friendly nation, and a great many of our people are of Ger- 
man ancestry. Why should we not deal with Germany accord- 
ing to this plan ?" 

As to the second point of difference, Mr. Bryan asked : 
"Why should an American citizen be permitted to involve his 
country in war by traveling upon a belligerent ship when he 
knows that the ship will pass through a danger zone ?" 

The question was not whether an American citizen has a 
right, under international law, to travel on a belligerent ship. 
The question was whether he ought not, out of consideration 
for his country, if not for his own safety, avoid danger when 
avoitliinee is possible. He did not know how far the Govern- 



108 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

ment could legally go in actually preventing American citizens 
from traveling on belligerent ships, but it could, and it "should, 
earnestly advise American citizens not to risk themselves or 
the peace of the country." 

^'President Taft advised Americans to leave Mexico," and 
"President Wilson has repeated the advice." This Mr. Bryan 
thought eminently wise and the advice should be repeated. "It 
is the duty of the Mayor to suppress the mob and to prevent 
violence, but he does not hesitate to warn citizens to keep off 
the streets during the riots. He does not question their right 
to use the streets, but for their own protection and in the inter- 
est of order he warns them not to incur the risks involved in 
going on the streets when men are shooting at each other." 

This new statement of Mr. Bryan's views caused another 
outburst of dissent, and a hearty approval of the course of 
the President. To Mr. Bryan it was said. There is no legal 
difference between warning Americans out of Mexico, which 
is foreign soil, and warning them off the high seas, which 
belong to us as much as to Germany. If there be any American 
who was not reconciled yesterday morning to Mr. Bryan's 
resignation, he must be reconciled to-day, in the light of Mr. 
Bryan's own justification of his action. "When a man," said 
another, "quits the service of a private employer he is bound 
in honor not to disclose his employer's trade secrets." Mr. 
Bryan resig-ns his office, stating his reasons at sufficient length 
and with all due clearness. Yet on the day following he puts 
forth a statement in which he does not hesitate to publish to all 
the world facts in respect to an important state paper of which 
he had knowledge only as a trusted adviser of the President, 
and which the President has not yet made public. Said a 
third, the resignation is to be deplored because it will give the 
world a mistaken idea that the people of the United States 
are not standing strongly behind the President. 

The German-American press gave approval. "Mr. Bryan 
frankly stated his object was the prevention of war. Mr. 
Bryan will have the support of all sane Americans on any 
reasonable proposition which will keep the country out of war." 
'Whether the departure of Mr. Bryan will exercise gi-eat influ- 
ence on the course of events so far as relations with Germany 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 109 

are concerned is an open question. At all events, the peace 
party in the country as a whole has found a leader who is a 
fighter, who to-day still has a large following in Congress and 
out of it." "Bryan's stand for fair play forces his resigna- 
tion. Bryan's resignation at this critical moment is the great- 
est service the Commoner has ever rendered his country, be- 
cause it has aroused the people to see the danger of the foreign 
policy now pursued by the President. The warning of George 
Washington against excessive partiality for one foreign nation, 
and excessive dislike for another, seems to be forgotten in 
Washington." Said the Fatherland: "The President in his 
present course has not behind him the majority of the American 
people, since even his own advisers desert him." 

The English press regarded the resignation as of great 
significance. It meant "a death blow to the Germanic powers." 
It meant "that America has crossed the Rubicon" ; that "the 
greatest republic on earth has resolved to be true to itself and 
its ideals." "By far the most important event of to-day is the 
announcement which comes to us from Washington that Mr. 
Bryan has resigned his ofiice." 

The second Lusitania note was made public June 11. 

The Government of the United States noted with gratifica- 
tion that in discussing the cases of the Gulflight and Cushing, 
the German Government fully recognized the principle of the 
freedom of the open seas to neutrals, and was willing to meet its 
liability when neutral ships, guilty of no hostile act, were at- 
tacked by air craft or submarines. But the Government of the 
United States was surprised to find the German Government 
contending, in the case of the Falaba, that an attempt on the 
part of a merchant vessel to escape attack and secure help 
altered the obligation of the officer, seeking to capture her, 
to respect the safety of the lives of those on board even after 
she had ceased her attempt to escape. 

Nothing but actual forcible resistance or continued efforts to 
escape by flight when ordered to stop for the purpose of visit on the 
part of the merchantman has ever been held to forfeit the lives of 
passengers and crew. 



no THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Von Jagow had expressed his belief that the Government 
of the United States was not aware of the character and outfit 
of the Lusitania, not aware that she carried masked guns, 
trained gamners and special ammunition, not aware that she 
had transported troops from Canada and a cargo not permitted 
imder the laws of the United States to go in a vessel carrying 
passengers. 

Were these statements true, the Government of the United States, 
[Mr. Lansing replied,] would have been bound to take official cog- 
nizance in performing its recognized duty as a neutral Power and in 
enforcing its national laws. It was its duty to see to it that the 
Lusitania was not armed for offensive action, that she was not serv- 
ing as a transport, that she did not carry a cargo prohibited by the 
Statutes of the United States, and that if, in fact, she was a naval 
auxiliary of Great Britain she should not receive her clearance as a 
merchantman, and it performed that duty and enforced its statutes 
with scrupulous vigilance through its regularly constituted officials. 
[The Government of the United States was able, therefore,] to as- 
sure the Imperial German Government that it has been misinformed. 

But whatever the contention of the German Government 
as to the carriage of contraband of war, or the explosion of the 
cargo by the torpedo, ''these contentions are irrelevant to the 
question of the legality of the methods used by the German 
naval authorities in sinking the vessel." 

But the sinking of passenger ships involves principles of hu- 
manity which throw into the background any special circumstances 
of detail that may be thought to affect the cases, principles which lift 
it, as the Imperial Government will no doubt be quick to recognize 
and acknowledge, out of the class of ordinary subjects of diplomatic 
discussion, or of international controversy. Whatever be the other 
facts regarding the Lusitania, the principal fact is that a great 
steamer, primarily and chiefly a conveyance for passengers, and carry- 
ing more than a thousand souls who bad no part or lot in the conduct 
of the war, was torpedoed and sunk without so much as a challenge 
or warning and that men, women and children were sent to their 
deaths in circumstances unparalleled in modern warfare. . . . 

The Government of the United States is contending for something 
much greater than mere rights of property or privileges of commerce. 
It is contending for nothing less high and sacred than the rights of 
humanity which every government honors itself in respecting and 
which no government is justified in resigning on behalf of those under 
its care and authority. . . . 



THE "LUSITAXIA" NOTES 111 

The Government of the United States cannot admit that the 
proclamation of a war zone from which neutral ships have been 
warned to keep away may be made to operate as in any degree an 
abbreviation of the rights either of American shipmasters or of 
American citizens bound on lawful errands as passengers on mer- 
chant ships of belligerent nationality. It does not understand the 
Imperial German Government to question these rights. It under- 
stands it, also, to accept as established beyond question the prin- 
ciple that the lives of noncombatants cannot lawfully or rightfully 
be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruction of an unresisting 
merchantman, and to recognize the obligation to take sufficient pre- 
caution to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in fact of 
belligerent nationality or is in fact carrying contraband of war under 
a neutral flag. 

The Government of the United States, therefore, deems it reason- 
able to expect that the Imperial German Government will adopt the 
measures necessary to put these principles into practice in respect 
to the safeguarding of American lives and American ships, and asks 
for assurances that this will be done. 

iln the newspapers, side by side with the note, was another 
statement or appeal from Mr. Bryan. It was addressed "To 
the American People" and reads: 

You now have before you the text of the note to Germany, the 
note which it would have been my official duty to sign had I re- 
mained Secretarj^ of State. I ask you to sit in judgment on my 
decision to resign rather than to share responsibility for it. . . . 

[If the difference were a personal one between the President and 
himself it would matter little.] But the real issue is not between 
persons; it is between systems. [In dealing with each, other govern- 
ments used either force or persuasion.] Force speaks with firmness 
and acts through the ultimatum. Persuasion employs argument, 
courts investigation and depends upon negotiation. Force represents 
the old system, the system that must pass away. Persuasion repre- 
sents the new syteni, the system that has been growing all too slowly, 
it is true, but growing for 1900 years. 

[If he] "correctly interpreted the note to Germany, it conforms 
to the standard of the old system rather than to the rules of the 
new," [and he cheerfully admitted that] it is abundantly supported 
by precedents written in characters of blood upon almost every page 
of human history. Austria furnishes the most recent precedent; it 
was Austria's firmness that dictated the ultimatum against Serbia 
which set the world at war. 

A tree is known by its fruit. The war in Europe is the ripened 
fruit of the old system. This is what firmness supported by force 



112 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

has done in the old world; shall we invite it to cross the Atlantic? 
Already the jingoes have caught the rabies from the dogs of war; 
shall the opponents of organized slaughter be silent while the disease 
spreads ? 

A humble follower of the Prince of Peace, a firm believer 
in the prophecy that "they who take the sword shall perish by 
the sword," lie wished to be "counted among those who ear- 
nestly urge the adoption of a course in the matter which will 
leave no doubts of our Government's willingness to continue 
negotiations with Germany until an amicable understanding 
is reached, or at least until the stress of war is over, we can 
appeal from Philip drunk with carnage to Philip sobered by 
the memories of an historic friendship, and by our recollection 
of the innumerable ties of kinship that bind the Fatherland to 
the United States." 

Having made his appeal to the America people, Mr. Bryan 
followed it with one "To the German- Americans." After some 
complimentary remarks intended "as an introduction to an 
appeal which I feel it my duty to make to them," he proceeded 
to make it under four heads: 

"First. If any of them have ever in a moment of passion 
or excitement suspected the President of lack of neutrality 
or lack of friendship towards the German Government and the 
German people, let that thought be forgotten, never again to 
be recalled." Since his resignation Mr. Bryan had "received 
numerous telegrams from German-Americans and German- 
American societies commending" his action. These senders 
of telegrams understood his position, but that all might under- 
stand it he would state it again. 

"The President is not only desirous of peace, but he hopes 
for it, and he has adopted the methods which he thinks most 
likely to contribute towards peace. My difference from him is 
as to the method, not the purpose, and my utterances since 
resigning have been intended to crystallize public sentiment 
in support of his efforts to maintain peace, or to use a familiar 
phrase, 'peace with honor.' 

"Second. Knowing that the President desires peace, it is 
your duty to help him secure it, and how? By exerting your 
influence to convince the German Government of this fact, and 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 113 

to persuade that Government to take no step that would lead 
in the direction of war." 

He feared that the German Government "might, despair- 
ing of a friendly settlement, break off diplomatic relations, 
and thus create a condition out of which war might come with- 
out the intention of either country." 

"Third. Do not attempt to connect the negotiations which 
are going on between the United States and the German Gov- 
ernment with those between the United States and Great 
Britain. . . . 

"Fourth. I hope that Germany will acquiesce in the 
demands that have been made, and I hope that she will acqui- 
esce in them without conditions. She can trust the United 
States to deal justly with her in the consideration of any 
changes that she may propose in the international rules that 
govern the taking of prizes." 

In Germany the Berlin press found nothing in the Presi- 
dent's note likely to change the methods of submarine warfare. 
One declared "the torpedoing must go on" ; another asserted 
the right of Germany to stop, by any means, the shipment of 
munitions; another defended the sinking of the Lusitania; 
another thought the note might put off a settlement but could 
not bring it about. 

Mr. Bryan's notes, and especially his appeal to German- 
Americans, were followed by an invitation to speak at a great 
peace meeting in New York held under the auspices of the 
"Friends of Peace," the German-American Alliance of Greater 
I^Tew York, United Irish Societies, American Truth Society, 
American Independence Union, American Humanity League, 
American Women of German Descent, German-American 
Peace Societies, and many other societies, each committed to 
a propaganda against the export of munitions of war. The 
chairman was the president of the United German-American 
Societies of the State of New York. Among the speakers 
besides Mr. Bryan were Mr. Frank Buchanan, a member of 
the House Committee on Naval Affairs; Mr. Henry Vollmer, 
late a member of Congress from Iowa, and Mr. Jeremiah 
O'Leary. Among those present were the Turkish Ambassador ; 
Dr. Dumba, the Austrian Ambassador ; Captain Boy-Ed, naval 



ill4 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

attache, aud Captain vou Papen, military attache to the Ger- 
man Embassy. The great auditorium of Madison Square Gar- 
den was filled. Thousands, unable to enter the hall, stood in 
the street and were addressed by speakers from six stands. 

When denouncing his pro-German speech, a charge was 
made in the newspapers that on the day the Lusitania note was 
given to the public ^Mr. Bryan conferred with Ambassador 
Dumba, told him that the note had been written by the Presi- 
dent "for home consumption," to satisfy the public feeling and 
to overcome the effect of his words "too proud to fight" used 
in his speech to the now citizens. This statement, it was 
charged, when telegraphed to Vienna and Berlin gave the Ger- 
man Government the impression that the note was not to be 
taken seriously and led it to refuse to stop submarine warfare 
and suggest negotiation. To this jMr. Bryan replied : 

I have noticed that a number of jingo papers are publishing a 
statement to the effect that after the sending of the first note to 
Germany I gave Ambassador Dumba the impression that the note 
was not to be taken seriously. I am not willing that the vminformed 
shall be misled by that portion of .the press which is endeavoring to 
force this country into war. I reported to the President the con- 
versation which I had with Ambassador Dumba and received his 
approval of what I said. V/hen we learned that the conversation had 
been misinterpreted in i3erlin I brought the matter to the attention of 
Ambassador Dumba and secured from him a statement certifying to 
the correctness of the report of the conversation that I had made 
to the President. Ambassador Dumba's statement was sent to our 
Embassy at Berlin and Ambassador Dumba also telegraphed the Ger- 
man Government affirming the correctness of my report of the inter- 
view and denying the construction that had been placed upon it. 
These are the facts in the case. 

His critics now pointed out that, while he had much to say 
about the jingo press, he failed to state exactly what he said 
to Ambassador Dumba. If innocent, why not give it to the 
public, why keep it secret after revealing so many secrets of 
the Cabinet ? Whatever it was, did not the fact remain that 
the German Government failed to take the Lusitania note 
seriously ? The reply showed this. 

The Providence Journal now came forward with the state- 
ment tlnif. after the note of February 10 had been dispatched, 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 115 

Mr. Bryan saw Ambassador Diimba '^at least three times at 
the State Department and twice at his home" ; that at these 
meetings the note was frankly discussed, and that at the last 
one the Ambassador presented to Mr. Bryan a typewritten 
statement of what he believed ''to be the attitude of the Admin- 
istration in connection with the note as (outlined to him by 
Mr. Bryan." 

First. Germany is willing to discontinue submarine attacks on 
vessels aboard which it is known there are United States citizens, 
unless such vessels are known to be carrying- contraband of war. 

Second. That provision be made for such passenger boats. 

Third. Proclamation to be issued by the President of the United 
States, advising United States citizens that they must not, in the 
future, take passage aboard vessels sailing under a belligerent flag 
which are carrying contraband of war, either from the United States 
or from any other point anywhere from any country in the world. 

"Mr. Bryan then and there agreed with the Austrian 
Ambassador that if this proposition were put up to President 
\Yilson in the form outlined it would bo accepted." 

Count von Bernstorff was at once notified, sent the "entire 
story of the conferences" to the Foreign Olfice in Berlin, and 
was duly "instructed to visit the President of the United States 
and agree to the terms." But "it was not until he unfolded 
the scheme to Mr. Wilson that he knew anything about it." 

"The above statements," said the Journal, "are correct in 
3very particular." 

As week followed week and von Jagow made no reply to 
the Lusifania note of June 9, a change in the attitude of Ger- 
many towards the United States became apparent. It was 
shown by the German press, which now for the first time 
divided on the question, How shall America be treated ? It was 
shown by the temporary suspension of the Tageszeitung, be- 
cause of a savage reply by Count von Reventlow to some 
remarks, in the Lokal Anzeiger, on the importance of American 
friendship. It was shown by Admiral Oscar von Truppel, who 
in an article in Der Tag warned its readers not to think lightly 
of a break with the United States. A German-American war, 
he said, or even a rupture of diplomatic relations, would do more 
injury to German prospects than was generally believed. 



116 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

America at first could give little military aid to the Entente 
Allies save by hastening the supply of ammunition. But "it 
could in time cooperate, with considerable land and sea forces 
and with first-class submarines and aeroplanes, in the com- 
plete isolation of Germany." America could also "exercise 
such pressure on the few remaining neutral countries that these 
would probably be arrayed actively or passively in the ranks 
of our enemies." Can we hope, he asked, "so far as we are 
able to foresee, to force England to her knees through subma- 
rine warfare against her commerce ?" If the answer were no, 
then German submarines could be put to a better use in attacks 
on "hostile warships, particularly in the hunting grounds of 
the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal," and 
submarine warfare against merchantmen "could be modified or 
abandoned to obtain a more favorable neutrality from, and the 
friendship of America which would be of great value to Ger- 
many after the war." If the answer were yes, then Germany 
was justified in using to the fullest extent her superiority in 
submarines, "and we can calmly accept all the consequences." 
It was shown by an effort of the Foreign Ofiice to arrange by 
informal discussion a formula for a note acceptable to both 
Germany and the United States, Herr Zimmermann, under 
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the report said, and Ambassador 
Gerard, had a conference on Saturday, July 3, and the draft 
of the note was discussed. Reports from Washington stated 
that the seriousness of the issue had so impressed the authori- 
ties at Berlin that they were seeking to find out just what 
changes in submarine warfare would satisfy America without 
lessening the effectiveness of that kind of warfare against 
Great Britain ; that the draft submitted to Ambassador Gerard 
was intended to draw from him an expression of opinion, that 
he promptly asked for instructions from Washington, and the 
President, then at his summer home at Cornish, was consid- 
ering a reply. 

On July 8, according to dispatches from Berlin, the Ger- 
man Foreign Office was informed that the American Govern- 
ment would not enter into preliminary negotiations respecting 
the note from Germany, and therefore it would be presented 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 117 

to Ambassador Gerard at once. The note, dated July 8, was 
made public in our country on the tenth. 

The Imperial Government, von Jagow said, learned with 
gi'eat satisfaction ''how earnestly the Government of the United 
States is concerned in seeing the principles of humanity 
realized in the present war." Ever since the time when "Fred- 
erick the Great negotiated with John Adams, Benjamin Frank- 
lin, and Thomas Jefferson, the treaty of friendship and com- 
merce of September 5, 1785, between Prussia and the Republic 
of the West," the two countries had stood together in the strug- 
gle for "the freedom of the seas." |If "in the present war the 
principles which should be the ideal of the future have been 
traversed more and more the longer its duration, the German 
Government has no guilt therein." Great Britain was to blame. 
On November 3, 1914, she declared the North Sea a war zone, 
planted poorly anchored mines, captured vessels, made it dan- 
gerous for neutral vessels to enter the sea, and thus blockaded 
neutral coasts and ports contrary to international law. On 
IsTovember 16, 1914, her Prime Minister declared in the 
House of Commons that one of the great tasks of England was 
to prevent food reaching Germany through neutral ports. Since 
March 1, she had been taking from neutral ships all merchan- 
dise bound to or from Germany, even when neutral property. 

While the enemies of Germany were thus conducting a war 
without mercy for her destruction, she was fighting "in self- 
defense" for her "national existence and for the sake of peace 
of assured permanency." Forced to adopt a submarine war- 
fare to meet the intentions of its enemies, the German Govern- 
ment on February 4, in its memorandum "recognized that the 
interests of neutrals might suffer from the submarine war- 
fare." The case of the Lusitania showed "with horrible clear- 
ness to what jeopardizing of human lives the manner of con- 
ducting the war employed by our adversaries leads." "All 
distinction between merchant ships and vessels of war had 
been done away with" by the orders to British merchantmen 
to arm themselves, by instructions "to ram submarines and the 
promise of rewards therefor." Had the German commander 
of the submarine which sank the Lusitania caused the crew 
and passengers to take to the boats before firing the torpedo. 



118 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

his own vessel would surely have been destroyed. Experience 
justified the belief that the Lusitania would have floated long 
enough to enable all aboard of her to take to the boats, had it 
not been for the large quantity of highly explosive material 
she carried. 

In the spirit of old friendship the Imperial Government 
would do all it could ''to prevent the jeopardizing of lives of 
American citizens." But to prevent "unforeseen dangers to 
American passenger steamships," they must be ''made recogniz- 
able by special markings" and German submarine commanders 
must be "notified a reasonable time in advance." 

That American citizens might not suffer for "adequate fa- 
cilities for travel across the Atlantic," the German Government 
would suQ-ffest that "a reasonable number of neutral steamers 
under the American flag" be used in passenger service. There 
would thus be "no compelling necessity" for American citizens 
to travel under an enemy's flag. The Imperial Government 
was "unable to admit that American citizens can protect an 
enemy ship through the mere fact of their presence on board." 
If an adequate number of neutral passenger steamers could 
not be acquired, the Imperial Government would not object to 
placing under the American flag four enemy passenger steam- 
ships, "for passenger trafiic between North America and Eng- 
land." 

By the London press the note was called impudent and eva- 
sive. The Times described it as a "compound of evasion, mis- 
statement and efl^rontery, such as only Teutonic diplomacy 
could have brewed," and not likely "to ease the tension between 
the two countries. The assurances twice demanded by the 
United States are not even mentioned." "As far as insult 
and insolence can be carried on without resort to actual lan- 
guage of contempt and defiance," said the Daily Telegraph, 
"they are carried on in this document." "The Washington 
Government has been shown," said the Post, "that Germany 
does not care a snap of its fingers for American lives, rights or 
property." The Paris Figaro did not know whether "the im- 
pudent cynicism of German diplomacy or the extraordinary pre- 
sumption leading them to believe that the United States would 
be satisfied with such a reply" was the more remarkable. Said 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 119 

Petit Parisienne, "It offers America derisive guarantees and 
openly seeks to prolong indefinitely the negotiations that it 
never intended to end." 

Much the same resentment found expression in the American 
press. "The fact that the Germans have thrice over responded to 
the demands of the United States with evasive notes ; that they 
have with such scant courtesy as to border upon insult neglected 
the demands of the United States for reparation for the Lusi- 
tania incident, and have offered nothing as to future protection 
for American interests which the United States can consider 
with dignity or safety, has not failed to impress itself upon the 
American mind," said one journal. 

The difficulty, it was said, in making the German Govern- 
ment understand how seriously the manner of conducting the 
submarine war is viewed in the United States is due to Mr. 
Bryan's statement to Ambassador Dumba, to Mr. Bryan's resig- 
nation and his subsequent propaganda, to his adoption of the 
German point of view regarding the shipment of ammunition 
and the barring of Ajnerican travelers from belligerent ships, 
and to the statements in the German press that our Western 
States are solidly opposed to the policy of the President. 

There was little talk of war ; but the general opinion was that 
the two nations had now come to the parting of the ways, and 
diplomatic relations ought to be severed; that if another note 
were sent the Government should limit its words to a final state- 
ment of its position. Some thought, as Germany for two months 
past had refrained from attacks violating our rights, the United 
States could still consider the issue. 

To calm, if possible, the growing indignation and remove all 
doubt as to what would be done, the President authorized his 
secretary to announce "that from the moment of the arrival of 
the official text of the German note, I have given the matter the 
closest attention, keeping constantly in touch with the Secre- 
tary of State and with every source that would throw light on 
the situation ; that so soon as the Secretary of State and I have 
both maturely considered the situation I shall go to Washington 
to get into personal conference with him and with the Cabinet, 
and that there will be as prompt an announcement as possible of 
the purposes of the Government." 



120 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Another indication of the seriousness with which the Im- 
perial Government regarded the strained relations with our 
country was a note presented on July 12. Jt had to do with the 
N ebrashan. As yet our Government had made no complaint. 
The Imperial Government, however, had "received from news- 
paper reports the intelligence that the American steamer iVe- 
hraskan had been damaged by a mine or torpedo on the south- 
west coast of Ireland," had investigated and was "convinced 
that the damage" had been done "by an attack by a submarine." 

"On the evening of May 25 last, the submarine met a 
steamer bound westward without a flag and with no neutral 
markings on her freeboard, about 35 miles west of Fastnet 
Rock." In "the twilight which had already set in, the name of 
the steamer was not visible from the submarine." Obliged to 
assume "that only English steamers," and no neutral steamers, 
traversed this zone without flag and markings, "he attacked" be- 
lieving "that he had an enemy vessel before him." Some time 
after the shot the American flag was hoisted and "he refrained 
from further attack." Hence it was clear that it was "to be 
considered an unfortunate accident." The German Govern- 
ment expressed its regret, and was ready to "make compensa- 
tion for damages" sustained. 

Another attack, this time with the loss of American citizens, 
which had been passed by in silence was that on the Dominion 
liner Armenian. 

When the facts w^ere revealed it appeared that shortly before 
seven o'clock on the evening of June 28, when off Trevose Head 
on the northwest coast of Cornwall, the captain of the Arynenian 
sighted a submarine and attempted to escape. The submarine 
gave chase, firing as she came on, and at the end of an hour, 
when thirteen of the crew of the Armenian lay dead on deck 
and the vessel was on fire, the Captain surrendered. Ample 
time was allowed the crew to take to the boats before she was 
torpedoed and sunk. Those who were killed, died of wounds, 
or were drowned numbered nineteen, of whom eleven were 
Americans. The vessel was on her way from ^Newport News, 
Virginia, to Avonmouth with 1422 mules; of the Americans 
many were negro muleteers. 

Here was a case of a British vessel carrying contraband of 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 121 

war, and when attacked seeking to escape, carrying no passen- 
gers and engaged in Admiralty business. These facts greatly 
simplified the situation and left the Government of the United 
States nothing to complain of save the barbarous method of sub- 
marine warfare which made it impossible to care for human 
life. "Nothing," said the President in his Lusitania note of 
June 9, "but active forcible resistance, or continued effort to 
escape by flight when ordered to stop, on the part of the mer- 
chantman has ever been held to forfeit the lives of her passen- 
gers and crew." "The Armenian had made continued effort to 
escape by flight." 

The next to escape was the Orduna. She left Liverpool 
July 8, with a crew of 265 and a passenger list of 227, of whom 
21 were Americans. Early on the morning of July 9, when 
about 37 miles south of Queenstown, a German submarine, 
without warning, fired a torpedo which missed the stern by a 
few feet. The Orduna fled, and the submarine, rising to the 
surface, gave chase, shelling as she pursued till the Orduna was 
out of reach. July 17, a few days after the Nebraskan note, 
the Orduna reached New York. 

The President, as he said he would, having "maturely con- 
sidered the situation" produced by the German note of July 
8, made his reply on the twenty-first. 

The note from the Imperial German Government he was 
obliged to say was "unsatisfactory because it fails to meet the 
real differences between the two governments, and indicates 
no way in which the accepted principles of law and humanity 
may be applied in the grave matter in controversy, but proposes, 
on the contrary, arrangements for a partial suspension of those 
principles which virtually set them aside." The Government 
of the United States "noted with satisfaction" that the Imperial 
Government recognized that "the high seas are free" ; that the 
character and cargo of a merchant ship must be known before 
she can lawfully be destroyed ; that the lives of noncombatants 
must in no case be put in jeopardy unless the vessel resists or 
tries to escape. But it regrets that the Imperial Government 
regards itself "as in a large degree exempt" from the observance 
of these principles, "even when neutral vessels are concerned," 
ibecause of the acts of Great Britain. 



122 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

"Illegal and inhuman acts, however justifiable they may be 
thought to be against an enemy who is believed to have acted in 
contravention of law and humanity, are manifestly indefensible 
when they deprive neutrals of their acknowledged rights, par- 
ticularly when they violate the right to life itself." If a bellig- 
erent could not retaliate without injury to the lives and 
property of neutrals, "a due regard for the dignity of neutral 
powers should dictate that the practice be discontinued." The 
Government of the United States was ready to make reasonable 
allowances for the novel aspects of su^bmarine war, but could 
not consent to abate any essential right of its people "because of 
a mere alteration in circumstances." 

Events of the last two months had shown that submarine 
operations in the so-called war zone could be conducted accord- 
ing to the "accepted practices of regulated warfare." 

The Government of the United States could not "accept the 
suggestion" that certain vessels be designated which should be 
free "on the seas now illegally proscribed." Such an agreement 
"would, by implication, subject other vessels to illegal attack" 
and would be "an abandonment of the principles for which this 
government contends." The note closed with this warning. 
"Friendship itself prompts" the Government of the United 
States "to say to the Imperial German Government that repeti- 
tions by the commanders of German naval vessels of acts in con- 
travention of those rights must be regarded by the Government 
of the United States, when they affect American citizens, as 
deliberately unfriendly." 

The German-American press was outspoken in condemna- 
tion of the note. It "bears no more the nature of an ulti- 
matum," said the Milwaukee Gerynania-IIerold, "than can be 
said of its predecessors. That the tone is distinctly sharper can- 
not be denied," but that need not "disturb us" for possibly 
"those parts in which Mr. Wilson uses the most energetic lan- 
guage are more for 'home consumption' than for Germany." 
According to the Chicago 8taats-Z eitung Germany could never 
submit "to the tone of it," and would give no other answer than 
the breaking off of diplomatic relations. The note showed "the 
President will break with Germany at all hazards. He should 
first ask the people of the United States if they are satisfied to 



THE "LUSITAXIA" NOTES 123 

be driven into war. The note is unworthy of the Republic. We 
hope that Germany will not blame the people for the present 
Government's action." 

By the American press the note was regarded as the final 
word to Germany on the sinking of the Lusitania and the sub- 
marine attacks on American merchantmen. It was not an ul- 
timatum in form, but it was in substance. The United States 
no longer cared what Germany said but what Germany did. 
It swept away all uncertainty and left the way open for that 
"act" so clearly foreshadowed in the note of May 13. The 
President's position is this : Whatever your words may be, it is 
by your acts we shall judge you. We have drawn a line across 
which Germany must not step. The future is with Germany. 
There will be no war unless Germany wills it. 

To the press in Berlin, indeed in Germany everywhere, the 
note was disappointing and the words "deliberately unfriendly" 
offensive. Why the proposals of Germany were brushed aside 
without even a counter proposal was puzzling. The Tageblatt 
found "Mr. Wilson's standpoint" directly opposite "common 
sense and right." It was useless to seek for "perfume between 
the thorns in the American note." "The American Government 
demands that its citizens travel in safety in war time, where 
and when they please. If they sit on a powder keg, any one 
lighting a cigar in their vicinity would be guilty of an un- 
friendly act." The Koelnische Zeitung found the German and 
American standpoints as far apart at the end as at the begin- 
ning. An understanding was impossible. "Germany will 
neither disown the sinking of the Lusitania nor offer indemnity 
for the lives of the reckless Americans who perished on the 
steamship. Germany will continue her submarine warfare in 
the same manner as in the past two months." The Frankfurter 
Zeitung declared "Germany cannot afford to abandon her sub- 
marine warfare because of threats, and if President Wilson per- 
sists in his dogmatic views the world must bear the conse- 
quences." 

That Germany had no intentions of yielding to any demand 
was once more made apparent by the sinking of another Ameri- 
can ship on July 25. As the Leelanaw was on her way from 
Archangel to Belfast with flax, she was attacked by a German 



124 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

submarine some 60 miles north of the Orkneys. Ample time 
was given the crew to leave the ship, and after the Leelanaw 
had been torpedoed and sunk, the men were taken aboard the 
submarine with the life boats in tow. About half-past eight 
in the evening another steamship was seen approaching, where- 
upon the crew were ordered into the boats and made their way 
to Kirkwall. Tlie cargo was contraband and foreign owned, 
and could not be made the subject of a claim. But the ship 
was American owned and her destruction, as was that of the 
Frye, was a violation of old treaties. 

During a few weeks ruthlessness in submarine warfare 
seemed to have been abandoned. Ships were warned, and crews 
and passengers were given a chance for life. At last the pro- 
tests of the United States, it was thought, had produced some 
effect; but on August 20, when our countrymen took up their 
morning newspapers, they read that on the previous day the 
White Star liner Arabic, while on her way from Liverpool to 
New York, was torpedoed without warning off the south coast 
of Ireland, not far from where the LusUania went down, and 
sank in eleven minutes. Aboard of her were 423 souls, of whom 
forty-four, including two American citizens, lost their lives. 

That such an act should be committed in the face of the 
warnings of February 1, May 13, June 9, and July 21, as- 
tonished and enraged all right thinking Americans. The 
Arabic, it was said, was on her way to New York, therefore she 
carried no ammunition, no contraband. Clearly the purpose 
of the submarine commander was to destroy the ship and the 
lives of all on board. The rights of our citizens, in defense of 
which we have warned Germany we should omit no act or word, 
have been stripped from them. In every detail the destruction 
of the Arabic fulfills President Wilson's definition of an act 
"deliberately unfriendly to the United States." There is then 
only one road open, only one course to pursue — without delay, 
without further protest diplomatic relations must be broken and 
the German Ambassador given his passports. 

,It is useless to heap up words to show how serious is the 
situation. The whole tale is not yet told, but enough is knovm 
to prove that the submarine commander acted in defiance of the 
plain warning of the President. Germany flouts our claim, de- 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 125 

nies our demands, and chooses to forfeit our friendship and es- 
teem. Over all our country the press insisted that the "un- 
pardonable offense/' the "deliberately unfriendly act," has been 
committed and Count von Bernstorff must go. Newspapers 
everywhere, in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, 
Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans, Alontgomery, Mobile, 
Knoxville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, 
Duluth, called earnestly for a severance of relations and a firm 
support of the President. 

Not so the German language press. "The situation is seri- 
ous," said the New York Staats-Z eitung , "because the policy of 
our Government, indorsed, applauded, pushed and stimulated by 
a pro-British press, which, despite all protestations of peace, 
wantonly excited to war, carried in itself the germ of an in- 
evitable conflict ; because, as the case of the Arabic again shows, 
the German Government, if it would not commit suicide, never 
more will or can agree to the terms of our Government." Said 
the Cincinnati Freie Presse, "The Arabic has carried an im- 
mense amount of war material, and it cannot be estimated how 
many German soldiers have bled as the result of wounds re- 
ceived from American bullets. Therefore we may be satis- 
fied that the trips of this British ammunition ship have ceased. 
If our administration cannot be persuaded to stop the unlimited 
export of arms and ammunition, then Germany must protect 
herself," Said the Cincinnati Volheshlatt, "This uncomfort- 
able state of affairs could easily be removed by applying com- 
mon sense, which would, and ought to, induce the President to 
tell American citizens to save their country from embarrass- 
ment by traveling under the American flag." Said the Louis- 
ville Anzeiger, "So far we know nothing except what the British 
censor passed. We do not know the circumstances of the sink- 
ing of the Arabic, but in spite of this, the Anglo-American 
press breaks into a clamor for war." Said the Detroit Abend 
Post, "As President Wilson flatly refused to issue an embargo 
on the export of war material, Germany was justified in carry- 
ing on the war by submarine. The Arabic was a swimming 
arsenal." Said the Illinois Staats-Z eitung, "The Arabic chiefly 
carried war supplies since the outbreak of the war. The crew 
formed a rifle club and practiced daily with long-range rifles 



126 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

of heavy caliber. If Americans knew this and used the boat 
just the same they are to bear the consequences of their reck- 
less actions." If they did not know it, England was to blame. 

Mr. Bryan now made for the press a signed statement of his 
views. He had read the editorial opinions concerning the sink- 
ing of the Arabic as collected by a Chicago newspaper, and 
thought they avoided "the most important question." The real 
question was not whether American citizens had a right to 
travel in the war zone. That was admitted. "The question 
just now is whether an American citizen should put his con- 
venience or even his rights above his nation's welfare. If 
American citizens refuse to consider their own safety or the 
safety of the nation, then a second question arises, namely, 
whether the Government should permit a few persons to drag 
this country into this unparalleled war." 

The Government had made its protest but that "did not nec- 
essarily mean that we were going to war." Diplomacy had not 
yet been exhausted. Even if it failed "we have recourse to 
the treaty plan which must be resorted to in case of disputes 
with Great Britain, France, Italy, and Russia, and should be 
resorted to before going to war with any other belligerent na- 
tion." 

"If the treaty plan fails we still have a choice between en- 
tering this war and the postponement of final settlement until 
peace is restored." It was time the unneutral portion of the 
press put aside its bias and helped the President "keep the 
country out of war." Pro-Ally papers were insisting on war 
with Germany for the benefit of the Allies. The pro-German 
papers were insisting on an embargo on arms and ammunitions 
for the benefit of Germany. If the two groups would join and 
urge measures to prevent American citizens from going on bel- 
ligerent ships in the war zone, and American passenger ships 
from carrying arms and ammunition, they would help to pre- 
vent war and enable our country "to act as peace-maker when 
the time for peace arrives." 

Germany through her Ambassador asked that no stand be 
taken until facts were known. 

"So far no ofiicial information is available concerning the 
sinking of the Arabic," said the note. "The German Govern- 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 127 

ment trust that the American Government will not take a def- 
inite stand on hearing only the reports of one side, which, in 
the opinion of the yimperial Government, cannot correspond 
with the facts, but that a chance will be given to Germany to 
be heard equally." 

Although the Imperial German Government does not doubt the 
good faith of the witnesses whose statements are reported by the news- 
papers in Europe, it should be borne in mind that these statements 
are naturally made under excitement, which might easily produce 
wrong impressions. 

If Americans should actually have lost their lives, this would 
naturally be contrary to our intentions. 

The German Govennnent would deeply regret the fact, and begs 
to tender sincerest sympathies to the American Government. 

Many interpretations were placed on the note. In official 
circles it was pointed out that the words "if Americans should 
actually have lost their lives, this would naturally be contrary 
to our intentions," were satisfactory so far as they went. But 
the Government must know whether or not there was an inten- 
tion to destroy the Arabic without warning, when bound from 
and not to England, and when certainly carrying American citi- 
zens. The words "would deeply regret" and "begs to tender sin- 
cerest sympathies" might mean that Germany intended to make 
such amends as would insure a continuance of good relations. 
At all events it was certain that Germany was anxious to avoid 
a break with the United States at this time. 

Much of the evidence gathered by Mr. Page having reached 
the Department of State, it was announced that the evidence 
was summarized and sustained six points : that the Arabic was 
torpedoed; that she was given no warning; that she made no 
attempt to escape ; offered no resistance and did not attempt to 
ram the submarine; that there was no time to ram the sub- 
marine even if it had been seen; and that there was not suf- 
ficient time to escape after the torpedo was first seen. 

That the Government would suspend action until Germany 
had presented her side was a matter of course. The action of 
Germany was regarded as an admission that the Kaiser was not 
insolently maintaining the right to sink unarmed, unresisting 
merchantmen. If he were^ he would have been silent. The 



128 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

statement of the German Ambassador was exceedingly en- 
couraging. ''Germany," it was said, "feels obliged to offer an 
explanation. We are glad to hear that Germany has realized 
such an act of common decency was due us." The note is a 
"hopeful indication that Berlin has finally come to see the 
criminal folly of compelling a diplomatic rupture with the 
United States." 

From Berlin came reports that the German Government was 
really seriously concerned about the situation. So seriously 
that the Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, made a statement 
to the Associated Press. "As long," he said, "as the circum- 
stances surrounding the sinking of the Arabic have not been 
fully cleared up, it is impossible for me to make a definite 
statement. Thus far we have secured no report about it. 
IvTow, we do not even know whether the sinking of the ship 
was caused by a mine or by a torpedo fired from a German sub- 
marine, nor do we know whether in this latter case the Arabic 
herself may not by her actions, perhaps, have justified the pro- 
ceedings of the commander of the submarine. 

"Only after all these circumstances have been cleared up 
will it be possible to say whether the commander of one of our 
submarines went beyond his instructions, in which case the 
Imperial Government would not hesitate to give such complete 
satisfaction to the United States as would conform to the 
friendly relations existing between both Governments." 

The people of Germany knew nothing of the excitement in 
our country. Save short telegrams of British origin nothing 
was printed on the subject: but officials of the Foreign Office, 
while refusing to express an opinion on the situation, made it 
clear that Germany had no intention of defying the United 
States. 

August 26, the Germ,an Ambassador had a long interview 
with the Secretary of State, and September 1, 1915, sent him 
a note. 

With reference to our conversation this morning, I beg to inform 
you that my instructions concerning our answer to your last Lusi- 
tania note contains the following passage: 

Liners will not be sunk by our submarines without warning and 
without safety of the lives of noncombatants, provided that the liners 
do not try to escape or offer resistanca 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 129 

Although I know that you do not wish to discuss the Lusitania 
question until the Arabic incident has been definitely and satisfac- 
torily settled, I desire to inform you of the above because this policy 
of my Government was decided on before the Arabic incident 
occurred. 

When making public this note Mr. Lansing added the words, 
"In view of the clearness of the foregoing statement it seems 
needless to make any comment in regard to it, other than to say 
that it appears to be a recognition of the fundamental princi- 
ple for which we have contended." 

Everywhere the press hailed the note with satisfaction. 
Said the Boston Herald, "For the President's Delphic phrase 
that some people are 'too proud to fight' he has suffered many 
a jibe. All the world now needs to know is that he did not fight 
when he might have done so, and that the aim of his endeavors, 
so far as American interests on the sea are concerned, has been 
amply realized." "It is a triumph not only of diplomacy but 
of reason, of right, of humanity, of justice and of truth." ^ "The 
President by his imyielding devotion to vital principles of law 
and humanity had brought peace with honor out of the German 
crisis." " "The outcome is a diplomatic triumph which will 
bring enduring renown to the administration of Woodrow Wil- 
son and put his critics — the war party and the peace-at-any- 
price party — to confusion. The scene now shifts to England." ^ 

The American Peace and Arbitration League sent a tele- 
gram to the President begging him to "Please accept" its con- 
gratulations "upon the gratifying outcome" of his "negotiations 
with Germany," and another to von Bernstorff. The League 
thought "his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Germany and 
your Excellency should share in the felicitation which we most 
heartily extend." 

In the midst of the rejoicing, news came that just as dark- 
ness was falling on the evening of Saturday, September 4, 
the Allan Liner Hesperian with 350 passengers and a crew of 
300 men, bound from Liverpool to Montreal, was torpedoed by 
a German submarine some seventy miles off Fastnet. Most 

^ New York Times. 
"New York World. 
'Baltimore Sun. 



130 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

happily the vessel remained afloat and all were saved by rescue 
steamers called by wireless. In the crew of the Hesperian were 
two Americans. 

A dispatch from the American consul at Queenstown an- 
nounced that ''Admiralty boats landed passengers and troops 
at 8.30 A. M. Have returned to bring Hesperian. . . . There 
were about 45 Canadian troops on board, unorganized and 
mainly invalided. Also one 4.7 gun mounted and visible on 
stern." 

At Washington it was believed that the incident, grave as 
it was, would not lead to a renewal of the crisis between Ger- 
many and the United States. On September 1, Count von 
Bernstorff quoted to Mr. Lansing these words from the com- 
ing German note on the Lusltania: "Liners will not be sunk 
by our submarines without warning and without safety of the 
lives of noncombatants, providing that the liners do not try to 
escape or offer resistance." In the face of such an assurance 
Germany must disavow the act. 

While the State Department awaited the facts in the case 
a wave of astonishment and indignation swept the country, and 
as usual found expression in the comments of the newspapers. 
Some were sure Germany would disavow the act and punish 
the perpetrator. She owed it to her own sense of self respect, 
if she wished to appear before the world as standing up to her 
recent assurance to our Government. Others asked did this 
act mean that Germany intends to renew and carry on her cam- 
paign of f rightfulness ? ,It was disheartening that at the mo- 
ment we were rejoicing over the promise of a complete under- 
standing with Germany, this reversion to frightfulness should 
come to destroy our peaceful expectations. There will of course 
be more explanations and excuses. But the burden of proof 
is on Germany. No nation, not even our own, can long endure 
such trifling with its dignity and honor. In less than a week, 
it was said, Germany has broken her solemn promise. Are 
her promises made only to be broken? Was von Bernstorff's 
note only another "scrap of paper" ? What explanation does 
the Ambassador propose to make? What apology does the Im- 
perial Government propose to offer? To blame the submarine 
commander is useless. He knew tha^ if he sent the Hesperian 



THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 131 

and every soul on board to the bottom of the sea he would be 
commended, not condemned, by the Kaiser. Nor can the com- 
mander plead a mistake. The German Government does not 
tolerate mistakes on the part of its officers, naval or military. 

The consul of Queenstown, in his dispatch, said there were 
troops on board and a four-inch gun mounted in the stern. 
These statements were now seized on by the pro-German press 
to prove Germany justified. Judging from the consular tele- 
gram, said the New York Staats-Z eitung , the Hesperian, under 
international law, was not "a harmless passenger ship," but '^a 
war craft, for the dispatch says that the liner, despite the fact 
that she had criminally taken passengers aboard, was armed. 
Doesn't it appear to be about time for Washington to warn 
American citizens of the dangers that menace them aboard 
British passenger ships ?" 

''The attack on the Hesperian," said the New York Herold, 
''will scarcely afford the jingoes a cause of war." Nothing- 
was said about her being warned but "it was evidently attempt- 
ing to escape; besides, it had a gun mounted on deck. These 
circumstances will undoubtedly be sufficient to relieve our 
Government of the necessity of wi'iting new notes or putting- 
new questions to Germany." Said the Cleveland Wachter und 
Anzeiger, "Even according to cable reports, the Hesperian had 
British and Canadian horse and a mounted gun on board, there- 
by being an army transport. So Germany seems to have been 
well within her rights as a belligerent, and since no American 
lives were lost it is a matter between the belligerents alone, 
which does not concern America at all." 



CHAPTEE VI 

AN" EMBARGO DEMANDED 

As month followed month and the war showed no signs of 
a speedy ending, there sprang up in our country, chiefly in the 
states along the Atlantic seaboard, a feeling that the time had 
come for the United States to prepare for defense. We have, it 
was said, a small but highly trained and efficient regular army. 
We have a small but undoubtedly efficient navy, and a I^^ational 
Guard with depleted ranks and antiquated guns and probably 
no ammunition. But the most careless observer of events in 
the old world must have seen that three implements of war- 
fare, never before used, have made the means of defense once 
sufficient on land and sea now little better than useless. These 
three are the submarine, the aeroplane and the great siege 
guns which battered down the forts around Liege, Siege guns 
are not likely ever to trouble us; but have we submarines and 
aeroplanes and heavy long range guns to defend our coast, 
and where are the men to man them ? If it is necessary to have 
an army of any size and a navy of any number of ships, it is 
equally necessary that the army and navy shall be large enough 
and so equipped with the very latest implements of warfare that 
they may really defend the country, for we know not when our 
day may come. 

That Germany in her greed for world dominion might find 
it necessary to deal with us had not passed unnoticed by her 
military writers. Only a few years before this time General von 
Edelsheim, a member of the German General Staff, had duly 
considered it in his pamphlet "Operationen tJber See." 

Operations against the United States of North America would 
have to be conducted in a different manner. During the last years 
political friction with that state, especially friction arising from com- 
mercial causes, has not been lacking, and the difficulties that have 
arisen have mostly been settled by our giving way. As this obliging 

132 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 133 

attitude has its limit, we have to ask ourself what force we can pos- 
sibly bring to bear in order to meet the attacks of the United States 
against our interests and to impose our will. Our fleet will probably 
be able to defeat the naval forces of the United States, which are 
distributed over two oceans, and over long distances. But it would 
be a mistake to suppose that the defeat of their fleet will force 
the United States with their immense resources into concluding 
peace. . . . 

Considering the great extent of the United States, the conquest 
of the country by an army of invasion is not possible. But enter- 
prises on the Atlantic coast, and the conquest of the most important 
arteries through which imports and exports pass, will create such an 
unbearable state of affairs in the whole country that the Government 
will readily offer acceptable conditions in order to obtain peace. 

If Germany begins preparing a fleet of transports and troops for 
landing purposes at the moment when the battle fleet steams out of 
our harbors, we may conclude that operations on American soil can 
begin after about four weeks, and it cannot be doubted that the 
United States will not be able to oppose to us within that time an 
army equivalent to our own. 

At present the regular army of the United States amounts to about 
65,000 men, of whom only about 30,000 could be used. Of them 
about 10,000 are required for watching the Indian territories, and 
for guarding the fortifications on the seacoast. Therefore, only about 
20,000 men of the regular army are ready for war. Besides, about 
100,000 militia are in existence, of whom the larger part did not come 
up when called out during the last war. Lastly, the militia is not 
efficient, it is partly armed with muzzle-loaders, and its training is 
worse than its armament. . . . 

[The] task of the fleet would be to undertake a series of large 
landing operations through which we are able to take several of their 
important and wealthy towns (on the Atlantic seaboard) within a 
brief space of time. By interrupting their communications, by de- 
stroying all buildings serving the State, commerce and defense, by 
taking away all material for war and transport, and lastly, by levying 
heavy contributions, we- should be able to inflict damage on the United 
States.^ 

While the need of preparedness was under discussion, Mr. 
Gardner, a representative from Massachusetts, brought the 
matter before the House of Representatives on October 15, 
1914, by offering a joint resolution providing for a National 
Security Commission, to ascertain if the United States is pre- 
pared for war. 

•"Modern Germany," J. E. Barker, 1912. 



134 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

The United States, lie said, is totally unprepared for a war, 
defensive or offensive, against a real power. We have been 
trying to believe that no one would dare to attack us; but are 
we so sure of this in view of what is happening in Europe? 
We are the most prosperous nation on earth and to the south 
of us lies the wonderful South American Continent, which we 
have closed to European colonization by the Monroe Doctrine. 
This doctrine cannot be maintained unless we are ready to fight 
for it. Does any one suppose that if, after the war, Germany 
finds the Monroe Doctrine in her way, she will pay the slight- 
est attention to it, if the increase of her population forces her 
to look for colonial outlet? 

"But no matter which side wins, we must remember that 
since the beginning of time victorious nations have proved 
headstrong and highhanded. We must begin at once to re- 
organize our military strength if we expect to be able to resist 
highhandedness when the day of necessity comes." The resolu- 
tion went to the Committee on Rules and nothing more was 
heard of it during the session. 

General Leonard Wood, speaking to the Medical Club of 
Philadelphia, declared we had never fought "a really first class 
nation" and were "pitifully unprepared, should such a calamity 
be thrust upon us." The regular army numbered but 103,000 
men, scattered through China, Alaska, the Philippines, Hawaii 
and the United States, Should war descend on us suddenly, as 
it did on Europe, the regular army "available to face such a 
crisis" would be "just about equal to the police forces of Boston, 
'New York, Philadelphia and Chicago." 

The administration at this time saw no need for such an 
investigation as Mr. Gardner wished. Indeed, after an inter- 
view with the gentleman from Massachusetts, on the eve of the 
meeting of Congress in December, the President was reported 
to have authorized the statement that he thought the method 
proposed an unwise way of handling a question that might cre- 
ate a very unfavorable international impression. 

What were the views of the President was clearly stated 
in his speech to Congress on December 8, 1914: 

It is aaid in some quarters that we are not prepared for war. What 
is meant by l>enig pre]iared ? Is it meant that we are not ready upon 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 135 

brief notice to put a nation in the field, a nation of men trained to 
arms? Of course we are not ready to do that, and we shall never 
be in time of peace so long as we retain our present political princi- 
ples and institutions. And what is it that it is suggested that we 
should be prepared to do? To defend ourselves against attack? We 
have always found means to do that, and shall find them whenever 
it is necessary without calling our people away from their necessary 
tasks to render compulsory military service in times of peace. . . . 

[We were at peace with all the world, did not dread the power of 
any nation, were not] "jealous of rivalry in the fields of commerce," 
[meant to live and let live]. We are a true friend to all the nations 
of the world, because we threaten none, covet the possessions of none, 
desire the overthrow of none. . . . We are the champions of peace 
and of concord. And we should be very jealous of this distinction 
which we have sought to earn. . . . 

From the first we have had a clear and settled policy with regard 
to military establishments. We never have had, and while we retain 
our present principles and ideals we never shall have, a large stand- 
ing army. If asked, are you ready to defend yourselves? we reply, 
Most assuredly, to the utmost ; and yet we shall not turn America into 
a military camp. We will not ask our young men to spend the best 
years of their lives making soldiers of themselves. . . . We must 
depend in every time of national peril, in the future as in the past, 
not upon a standing army, nor yet upon a reserve army, but upon a 
citizenry trained and accustomed to arms. 

Men of every shade of opinion, pacifists and advocates of 
preparedness, anti-militarists, pro-Germans and German- 
Americans, now made haste to organize and urge their views. 
One evening in early December some two hundred and fifty 
men of affairs in the city of New York met and founded the 
National Security League. Their purpose was to obtain by 
investigation exact information as to the condition of our 
military and naval defenses; find out how much the present 
annual appropriation for this purpose would have to be in- 
creased to secure the utmost efficiency; and bring about such 
organizations of our citizens the country over, "as may make 
practical an intelligent expression of public opinion and may 
insure for the nation an adequate system of national defense." 
[Scarcely had the National Security League been founded 
when a meeting called by Bishop Greer, President Butler 
of Columbia University in the City of New York, Mr. Villard 
and others, formed the American League to Limit Armament, 



136 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

and "voice a protest against agitation for increased armament 
in this country." The day Congress assembled bills and joint 
resolutions bearing on the war were offered in both Senate and 
House. From Mr. Lodge in the Senate came a joint resolution, 
similar to that of Mr. Gardner, providing for a National Se- 
curity Commission of three Senators, three Representatives 
and three civilians to investigate and report on the need of na- 
tional preparedness. Senator Hitchcock offered a bill making 
it unlawful and a breach of neutrality for any person, part- 
nership or corporation to sell or deliver arms, ammunition, ar- 
tillery, explosives of any sort whatever to be used against a 
country with which the United States is at peace, or even ex- 
port them unless sworn proof that they were not to be used 
against such a country was filed with the Secretary of Com- 
merce. December 8, 1914, Mr. Lobeck offered a similar bill in 
the House. December 10, Senator Works of California offered 
a bill to make it unlawful for any person, corporation or as- 
sociation, a citizen or resident of, or doing business in the 
United States, to contract for, sell, supply or furnish to any na- 
tion engaged in war, or its armies, or soldiers, any food, cloth- 
ing, supplies, arms, ammunition, horses, or war supplies of any 
kind whether they were or were not contraband. 

When speaking on the subject of his bill a few days later 
the Senator read from "the proof of an editorial" that was to 
appear in the Journal of the Knights of Labor: 

Ever since the war began, [said the writer,] we find everywhere 
expressed the faith and hope of the people that we are to gain greater 
prosperity thereby, and are to become richer by the vast trading which 
it is claimed is thereby opened to us. Now this is all very well and 
proper under certain circumstances. But if the sending of our exports 
abroad has a tendency to aid the combatants and to continue the war- 
fare in Europe, then, if we square our actions with our words, we 
will not send these warring peoples a dollar's worth of our products 
until they stop fighting. We are a lot of greedy hypocrites as long 
as we express our desire for peace in Europe and at the same time 
continue to send the nations at war there munitions of war or provi- 
sions which enable them to continue their warfare. The supply should 
be stopped. Will we do this thing? The answer is we shall not do 
this thing because our protestations and prayers for peace are in the 
main sheer hypocrisy and beneath them all lies unbounded greed. 
Every shipment of wheat, corn, flour, meat should be stopped. Then 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 137 

it would be utterly impossible for their armies to be fed, and so great 
would be the needs and necessity of the working masses there that 
the cry for bread would drown out all thoughts of war. 

The writer therefore strongly urged the passage of Sena- 
tor Work's bill J 

Senator Chamberlain presented a bill to establish a Council 
of N'ational Defense composed of the Secretaries of State, War 
and Navy and the Chairmen of the Appropriation, Military, 
Naval and Foreign Affairs committees of the Senate and 
House. 

i^The wishes of German- Americans found expression in joint 
resolutions offered in the House by Mr. Vollmer and Mr. Bart- 
holdt, forbidding the export of arms, ammunition, and muni- 
tions of war from the territory or any seaport of the United 
States. 

At a meeting of the directors in Washington in January, cp{ 
1915, of the Biennial Congress of the American Peace Society, 
it was resolved that "we do not favor, and we do not believe the 
people of this country will favor, a policy which, will bring 
about the glorification and enrichment of a few at the expense 
of the many. We believe that at this moment when militarism 
is destroying itself rapidly in Europe, it is inopportune, il- 
logical and a betrayal of the higher interests of civilization for 
America to declare itself more strongly than heretofore on. 
the side of force." 

The German-American Alliance at Minneapolis telegraphed 
a member of the House, "In the name of Christian humanity 
and the spirit of neutrality we beg your support for Bartholdt's 
bill aiming to stop munitions of war from Ajnerica reaching 
Europe." Dr. Hexamer, President of the National German- 
Ajnerican Alliance, went to Washington and appeared before 
the Committee in charge of the Bartholdt resolution and urged 
its adoption.!] 

L_The recently formed American Neutrality League of Phila- 
delphia now announced that a great neutrality meeting would 
be held on the evening of January 28, 1915, and the Secre- 
tary of the League invited the Bishop of Pennsylvania to be 
one of the Vice-Presidents. The purpose of the meeting, the 
Secretary said, was to urge "that no violation of neutrality on 



1.S8 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the part of any citizen of the United States be permitted by 
the National Government, and to advocate the passage of laws 
to prevent the shipping of munitions to any belligerent nation 
by any individual firm or corporation within the United States." 

From information which has come to me lately, both in Washinjj- 
ton and here, [Bishop Rhinelander replied,] I have learned that most 
of the agitation at present being made to prevent the shipping of war 
material from this country to belligerent nations is being made, not 
really in the interest of neutrality, but nn hostility to the allied 
nations,, and with the hope of helping Germany and Austria in their 
campaign. Is the proposed meeting here fairly chargeable with the 
same purpose, and if not, is there any available evidence to the con- 
trary with which you can provide me? 

As an American citizen pledged to uphold American ideals, I am 
altogether against Germany and Austria in this war, on the ground 
that they are threatening, and would destroy, as far as they have 
opportunity, those political and personal liberties and rights which we 
Americans have made the foundation of our government. 

Feeling as I do, you will readily understand that I cannot have 
part in any meeting or movement which has for its real object, 
whether or not explicitly avowed, the support of a cause, to which I 
personally am resolutely opposed. 

This patriotic letter in the opinion of the Secretary showed 
that the Bishop "is a partisan, and, of course, that would make 
him ineligible to act as vice-president of a neutrality meeting." 

The meeting was held in the Academy of Music, the house 
was packed with German- Americans, and a great throng of 
men and women unable to enter the building was turned into 
an overflow meeting which showed its neutrality by singing 
Die WacJit am Blie'in and Deutsrhland Uher Alles. Within 
doors Governor Brumbaugh presided, Congressmen Vollmer, 
Metz and Porter made bitter anti-British speeches, and the 
crowd went through the form of adopting these resolutions: 

With deep feeling of sympathy for the victims of the horrible war 
now going on in which millions of men are engaged, we citizens of the 
United States in mass meeting assembled appeal to our President, to 
our Senators and Congressmen, to perform one of the greatest acts 
of mercy that it has ever been in the power of a President and Con- 
gress to perform. 

Let the tear-bedimmed eyes of the mothers of all nations now at 
war be dried by a chivalrous act of the Government of the greatest of 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 139 

the nations, the refuge of the oppressed of all lands. With that hope 
in view, with charity for all and malice for none, we urge that real 
neutrality be enforced by the Government of these United Stetes. 

We hold that real neutrality can only be enforced by the placing 
of an embargo on all supplies of war that can in any way be used by 
any of the belligerents to further continue the present conflict. 

We hold that such an embargo if rigidly enforced will bring about 
a speedy termination of the war, and restore to millions of suffering 
people peace and happiness. 

Therefore be it resolved : That we earnestly urge and call on all 
our fellow citizens to demand the enactment of a law which will 
empower our President to enforce a real neutrality so that peace may 
be brought about among the warring nations. 

(^Two days later, January 30, another meeting of Germans 
and German sympathizers was held at Washington. Mr. 
Bartlioldt presided and among his fellow workers were Congress- 
men Lobeck, Vollmer and Porter. Then and there was formed 
the American Independence Union, to secure "genuine Ameri- 
can neutrality and to uphold it free from commercial, financial 
and political subserviency to foreign powers." Resolutions 
adopted demanded "an American cable controlled by the 
Government of the United States" in order "to insure the pos- 
session of an independent news service" ; a free and open sea 
"for the commerce of the United States and unrestricted traf- 
fic in noncontraband goods as defined by law" ; the "immediate 
enactment of legislation prohibiting the export of arms, am- 
munition and munitions of war," as a "strictly American 
policy," and the "establishment of an American merchant ma- 
rine." That these things might be secured, "we pledge our- 
selves individually and collectively to support only such candi- 
dates for pidjlic ofiice, irrespective of party, who will place 
American interests above those of any other country and who 
will aid in eliminating all undue foreign influence from of- 
ficial life." J 

The real purpose of this and all similar pro-German leagues 
and associations was to carry on a propaganda in behalf of the 
Central Powers, to start a popular agitation against the ex- 
port of munitions of war to the Allies, by appeals to humanity, 
to feelings of resentment against Great Britain for her re- 
strictions on American commerce, and by charges that we were 



140 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

not truly neutral so long as British supremacy on the sea pre- 
vented Germany from also buying munitions of war in our 
markets. That Germany needed to buy arms and ammunition 
from us, or would have bought any save to prevent them falling 
into the hands of the Allies, is beyond all probability. A news- 
paper in commenting on this meeting said with truth, 

With a persistence worthy of a better cause, German sympathizers 
in this country, hyphenated and plain, are trying to involve the people 
of the United States in the European war. The conference at Wash- 
ington, Saturday, January 30, with the professed purpose of forming 
a national agency to reestablish genuine American neutrality, may 
obtain the cooperation of well-meaning and short-sighted advocates 
of peace, but its pledge to take international questions into national 
politics is intended to serve Germany only. 



D 



To form such associations now became a craze and before 
six months passed away the American Truth Society, American 
Peaceful Embargo Society, Friends of Peace, Friends of Truth, 
Labor's ]^ational Peace Council and the Women's Peace Party 
sprang into existence. 

The Women's Peace Party had for its objects the imme- 
diate calling of a convention of neutrals in aid of early peace, 
limitation of armaments and the nationalization of their manu- 
facture, the organization of opposition to militarism in our 
country, popular control of our foreign policy, humanizing 
government through Woman suffrage; replacing the ''balance 
of power" by a concert of nations ; gradual substitution of law 
for war and international police for rival armies and navies; 
removal of the economic causes of war, and the appointment by 
our Government of a commission of men and women to pro- 
mote peace among all nations. 

L Of all the efforts to bring world peace the strangest was that 
set afoot by Mr. Henry Ford. A rumor which came from De- 
troit and went the rounds of the press declared he was ready 
to spend ten million dollars in the cause of peace and anti- 
militarism. Nothing was known of his plans .until late in No- 
vember, 1915, it was annjunced at New York that negotiations 
had been opened with the Scandinavian- American Line for the 
charter of the steamship Oscar II to carry a peace party to 
Europe to attempt to end the war. Pacifists, peace-at-any- 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 141 

price men and women, representatives of peace societies were 
to be invited to go as guests of Mr. Ford, to some place in a 
neutral country, there to meet with friends of peace from all 
the neutral nations of Europe. 

"We wish to have an organization," his manager, the Secre- 
tary of the Chicago Peace Society, was reported to have said, 
"to which the warring nations can appeal as soon as they are 
ready for peace. Also we will send out feelers, unofficially, to 
learn just what chances there are to get them together." 

"I hope," said Mr. Ford, "that every mother in the world 
will bring all the pressure she can to bear on every one in order 
that the boys can be brought out of the trenches by Christmas 
and the war ended." Great pressure was brought to bear upon 
the President to call a conference of neutral nations to urge 
peace and thousands of telegrams reading, "Work for Peace, 
the mothers of America pray for it," were sent to the White 
House. Men and women of note and prominence, ex-President 
Taft, Mr. Edison, Mr. Bryan, Miss Jane Addams, the Govern- 
ors of North Carolina, of Georgia, Mississippi, North Dakota, 
Indiana and a host of others were invited. Many declined ; but 
when the Peace Ship was about to sail there had been gathered 
from all parts of the country, 139 men and women, advocates 
of peace, newspaper correspondents, students from various col- 
leges, members of the staif and moving picture men. Not half 
a dozen were known by name to the p'ublic at large. No plan 
for procedure had yet been made. "All we know," said Mr. 
Ford, "is that the fighting nations are sick of war, that they 
want to stop, and that they are waiting only for some disin- 
terested party to step in and offer mediation. Some people in 
this world have seen fit to be skeptical about the success of our 
plan, but when we return I think they will change their views.''^ 

Mr. Bryan, who came to see the party off, was in heartv 
sympathy with the peace movement and hoped to join later 
at The Hague. 

Mr. Ford is making an earnest and unselfish effort in behalf of 
peace and he ought to have the good wishes and sympathetic support 
of all who desire peace, even though some may not fully share his 
faith in the immediate success of this trip. Of course those who 

Philadelphia Press, December 4, 1915. 



142 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

want the war to continue ridicule the effort, especially those who 
speak for big munition factories which are exporting war material 
at a large profit. This was to be expected. 

Ridicule is the favorite weapon of those who desire to oppose 
any movement. If any of the people on the Ark had been making 
money out of the flood, they probably would have ridiculed Noah for 
sending out the dove. Success to Mr. P^ird and companions! May 
they return with an olive branch. 

The sailing oi the Ark of Peace aroused comment abroad. 
A request in tlie British House of Commons that an intima- 
tion be sent to ]\[r. Ford and party that this peace mission to 
England would be ''irritating and unwelcome at the present 
time" brought from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for 
Foreign Affairs the reply that the passports issued to the mem- 
bers of the peace party were for neutral countries only and 
the contingency feared c^ould not arise. ''Speaking for myself, 
I think it would be in the highest degree undignified for 
the Government of this country to send any intimation to a lot 
of ladies and gentlemen who, whatever their merits may be, are 
of no particular importance." To the German press the expedi- 
tion seemed but an instance of American eccentricity. 

December 4 the Oscar II sailed from ISTew York, was 
stopped by the British and taken into Kirkwall in the Orkney 
Islands, was released after a short detention and made port 
at Christiania. The party having landed, Mr. Ford said, 
"Every nation in the world will now look upon the American 
peace pilgrims as taking the initiative in stopping history's 
worst war. The landing of the peace expedition in Europe will 
be recorded as one of the most benevolent things the American 
Republic ever did." ^ Eager as were the members of the party 
for peace in Europe they could not keep peace among them- 
selves. Already the party was split. At Christiania it was hos- 
pitably but unofficially received, excited no enthusiasm and was 
not recognized by the ISTorwegiau peace party. Mr. Ford fell ill 
and while the rest of the party went on to Stockholm he re- 
turned to Bergen and sailed for home. 

Thus Christmas night came with the boys still in the 
trenches, with ]\Ir. Ford on his way home, and the party in 
charge of a General Manager and a Committee of Administra- 
' Philadelphia Press, December 20, 101.5. 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 143 

tion, and as yet without any plan for promoting peace. An- 
nouncement was therefore made that a plan drawn up with 
the aid of men versed in international law would be submitted 
to the warring nations. If rejected or ignored it would be modi- 
fied and oifered again and again until persistence attracted at- 
tention. 

At Copenhagen, whither the party went from Stockholm, 
peace meetings were forbidden for the Danish Government 
would not allow aliens to lecture on the war or the belligerent 
powers. Unless Germany would permit the pilgrims to cross 
her territory it would be necessary to go by vessel from Copen- 
hagen to The Hague. The prospect of a trip through the mine 
sown North Sea was far from agreeable and the German Min- 
ister was requested to obtain leave for the party to travel by 
train without stop. Although their passports did not allow 
them to travel in a belligerent country, consent was given pro- 
vided the doors of the cars were sealed, that no written, printed 
or typewritten papers, cameras, post cards, opera glasses or gold 
coin were taken out of Denmark. At the end of a week the col- 
lege students were sent home and a few days later' some seventy 
members of the peace party sailed on the Ilotterdcmi for New 
York, leaving behind a committee known as the JSTeutral Confer- 
ence for Continuous Mediation, The Committee moved to 
Stockholm where it addressed a letter to the belligerents sug- 
gesting ways of ending the war, and another to neutrals urg- 
ing that a conference for mediation be called. J 

Congress having adjourned on March 4, 1915, without 
enacting a law forbidding the sale or export of arms, ammuni- 
tion and foodstuffs to the Allies, German-Americans and pro- 
Germans determined to attack the supply of such articles at 
the source and took up the task of crippling the plants where 
the materials of warfare were made and one day in early April, 
1915, published in the newspapers an "Appeal to the American 
People." The signers were the owners, or editors, of 389 news- 
papers published in foreign languages, in Polish, Hungarian, 
Slav, Greek, Arabic, Lithuanian, Ruthenian, Croatian, Yid- 
dish, Syrian, in short, in all the languages and dialects of 
Europe, and called on the working men to cease making 
powder, shrapnel, sl*ells and cartridges. 



144 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Because, the signers said, of the receipt of "hundreds of 
thousands of letters, cables, messages, containing ''heartbroken 
appeals, prayers and pleas from the people of our mother 
countries," the editors and publishers had decided to appeal to 
"the great American People on behalf of our readers," "to the 
high-minded and courageous American press," to the makers "of 
powder, shrapnel and cartridges," to "the workmen engaged in 
the plants devoted to the manufacture of ammunition for use 
by the nations at war to immediately cease making powder, 
shrapnel and cartridges destined to destroy our brothers, 
widow our sisters and mothers and orphan their children." 
They appealed especially "to American manufacturers and 
their workmen engaged in manufacturing any of these articles 
to suspend at once the manufacture of powder and bullets 
which are being made for the cruel and inhumane purpose of 
mutilating and destroying humanity." Workmen in such fac- 
tories were urged "even at the sacrifice of their positions to go 
on record as being unalterably opposed to being employed for 
the purpose of manufacturing ammunition to shatter the bodies 
and blot out the lives of their own blood relations." 

In Chicago, at the time of the publication of this advertise- 
ment, the campaign for the election of a mayor was drawing to 
a close. In the last days of it, leading Austrians and Germans 
signed a circular urging voters of German, Austrian and Hun- 
garian descent to vote for Robert M. Sweitzer, the Democratic 
candidate, as an "endorsement" of the war policies of the 
Kaiser. On the circular were three flags in color, and photo- 
graphs of the Kaiser and the Emperor of Austria. The letter 
stated that a vote for Mr. Sweitzer was a vote of confidence for 
Kaiser Wilhelm and Emperor Franz Joseph and would "save 
the Fatherland." 

Most happily Mr. Sweitzer was beaten by a plurality of 
139,000 votes. This propaganda, the Providence Journal now 
declared, was the work of the German Embassy, which was 
spending millions of dollars in a publicity plot intended to pro- 
duce three results : To discredit the administration by creating 
a belief that the President and the Cabinet officers are dis- 
criminating against Germany. To create conditions and manu- 
facture evidence to show that the Allies were breaking the rules 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 145 

of neutrality, and then discovering this evidence, to make mem- 
bers of Congress believe that "all the foreign elements among 
the voters" were imited in demanding that the exportation of 
arms and ammunition cease. To promulgate the ''doctrine in 
pulpits occupied by German pastors," and to coerce newspapers 
through "advertisers of German birth or affiliations throughout 
the country." 

The full page advertisement which had lately appeared in 
many newspapers, protesting against the sale of munitions of 
war to the Allies, and signed by many publishers of foreign 
language newspapers, was written and paid for by agents of 
the German Government, Captain Boy-Ed, the German naval 
attache, passed on the advertisement and through his secretary 
designated the newspapers in which it was to appear. 

The recent election in Chicago was to have been a triumph 
for the German cause. "The German-Austrian appeal circu- 
lated during the campaign was proposed in the German Em- 
bassy," and since the election those citizens of German birth 
who did not vote for Mr. Sweitzer had been roundly abused by 
members of the Embassy staff. 

The President of the Association of Foreign Language pe- 
riodicals denied the charge. He and his secretary had written 
the appeal and together had made out the list of newspapers in 
which it was to appear. Of the 575 periodicals in the associa- 
tion 455 had authorized him to sign for them, 21 had refused 
such authority and the others made no response. 

Had proof of the activity of the German Embassy in this 
propagandist work been needed, it was now laid before the peo- 
ple by Ambassador von Bernstorff himself. April fifth the De- 
partment of State received from him a "memorandum" pro- 
testing against the failure of the United States to force Great 
Britain to release the Wilhehnina, and against the export of 
arms and munitions to the Allies, and one week after its re- 
ceipt, without consulting the Secretary of State, the Ambassa- 
dor gave a copy to the press. 

The British orders in council, the memorandum stated, had 
changed the well established rules of international law in such 
"a one-sided manner" that they arbitrarily suppressed neutral 
trade with Germany. Before the American protest of Decern- 



146 THE UNITED STATES TN THE WORM) WAR 

ber 28, 1914, not oiiu sliipmciit of foodstuIVs luui ^one from the 
United States to Germany. Since that date one shipment (that 
by the Wilhelmina) had l)een attempted and both ship and 
cargo had been seized by Gr(>at liritain. As a pretext foi- the 
seizure the British Government liad cited a decree of the Ger- 
man Federal Council concernini!,' the meat tra(h', although this 
covered grain and Hour and no other foodstutls, although im- 
portation of all other foodstuffs were especially excepted, and 
the German Government guaranteed their exclusive consump- 
tion by the civil population. 

Under these circumstances the seizure of an American ship 
was c(mtrary to international law. "Xevertheless the United 
States Government has not to dat(> seciired the release of the 
ship and has after the duration of the war of eight months" 
been able to protect its lawful trade with CJermany. This 
seemed equivalent to complete failure, and the Imperial Em- 
bassy ''must therefore assume that the United States Govern- 
ment acquiesces in the violations of international law by Great 
Britain." 

Passing to "the attitude of the United States, in the ques- 
tion of the exportation of arms," the Ambassador said, Condi- 
tions in former wars were not like those in the present war. 
Therefore it was not fair to point to the fact that in former 
wars Germany had supplied belligerents with war material. 
The question then was not whether any war material was to be 
furnished to the belligerents, but which one of the competing 
neutrals should furnish it. Now all nations, save the United 
States, capable of producing any important amount of war 
material, are either at war, or completing their armament, and 
have laid embargoes on the export of war material. In the true 
spirit of neutrality the United States should do the same. On 
the contrary an enormous industry in war nuiterials is being 
built up for the purpose of supplying the enemies of Germany, 
a fact by no means modified by "the theoretical willingness to 
supply Germany also," if shipments thither wei-e possible. 

"If it is the will of the American people that there shall be 
a true neutrality, the United States will find means of prevent- 
ing this one-sided supply of arms, or at least of utilizing it to 



AN EMBAHGO DEMANDED 117 

protect legitimate trade with Germany, especially that in food- 
stuffs." 

The memorandum closed with the reminder that according 
to a member of Congress, on February 4, 1914, President 
Wilson on lifting the embargo on arms to Mexico said, "We 
should stand for genuine neutrality," and that ''because Car- 
ranza had no ports, while Huerta had them and was able to im- 
port these materials, that it was our duty as a nation to treat 
(Carranza and Huerta) upon an equality if we wished to ob- 
serve the true spirit of neutrality as compared with a mere pa- 
per neutrality," 

The more the memorandum was read the more it came to 
be regarded as an impudent arraignment of the policy of the 
administration. The bold condemnation of the United States 
for its failure to obtain the release of the Wilhelniina; the 
charge that it had done nothing to safegaiard lawful trade with 
Germany; the assertion that this was equivalent to complete 
failure; the assumption that the United States accepted Eng- 
land's ''violations of international law;" the complaint that the 
United States was violating the true spirit of neutrality; the 
intimation of something like an appeal to the American people 
as against their Government contained in the words — "If it is 
the will of the American people that there shall be a true neu- 
trality, they will find means of preventing this one-sided supply 
of arms" ; the reference to our treatment of Huerta and Car- 
ranza; the way in which the memorandum was given to the 
press, made the conduct of the Ambassador most offensive. 

Bearing no signature, accompanied by no statement of its 
source, the Government and the people were left in douljt 
whether the memorandum was the work of the Ambassador, or 
was sent under directions from Berlin. Wliatever its source, 
there could be no doubt tliat it correctly expressed the attituck^, 
of the German Government and the German people towards the 
United States. The bitterness felt towards our country by both 
could not be denied. The memorandum was but another effort 
to sow discord between the United States and nations at war 
with Germany. 

At Washington, the manner of publication, without first 
consulting the Government to which it was sent^ gave great of- 



148 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

fense. Jt was dated April fourth, was received on the fifth, 
was in German and was sent to the translator, and when re- 
turned contained matter so astounding that it was thought to 
be inexact and was sent back and not returned until April 
ninth. That day a forecast of its contents appeared in the pub- 
lic prints, and the full text on the eleventh. 

Statements of many sorts, as to what the Government would 
do, now became current. No answer could be made until the 
country had cooled off; Minister Gerard had been 'instructed to 
inquire if the German Government accepted responsibility for 
the language and matter of th-e memorandum. ISTone of these 
rumors was true, and all in good time the memorandum was an- 
swered. 

While the people waited Dr. Dernburg gave out what 
seemed to be an inspired letter. He had been invited to address 
a meeting at Portland, Maine, on "The German View Point." 
The speech would probably have been badly reported or not re- 
ported at all. He decided, therefore, to stay away and sent a 
letter every word of which went the rounds of the press. 

Peace, he said, when made should be no perfunctory patch- 
ing up, but of a lasting sort. A recurrence of war should be 
made most remote. The great highway along which thoughts 
and things travel is the high seas. He could with authority dis- 
claim any ambition on the part of his country to world domin- 
ion. Events had shown that world dominion could be secured 
only by dominion of the high seas. "The ^im of Germany is to 
have the seas as well as the narrows kept permanently open 
for the free use of all nations, in times of war as well as in 
times of peace." 

The sea is nobody's property and must be free to everybody. 
But a free sea is useless unless combined with the freedom of 
cable and mail communication with all countries, belligerents 
or at peace. He should like to see all cables owned jointly by 
the nations of the world, and a world mail service system over- 
sea established by common consent. 

Germany had been taxed with disregarding treaty obliga- 
tions, tearing up as a scrap of paper a solemn engagement as 
regards Belgium. If it were a breach of international law at all 
"it has been followed up by all other belligerents by destroying 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 149 

other parts of that code." Two German men-of-war had been 
sunk in neutral waters, without a protest by the United States. 
Great Britain's violations of international sea law and the 
rights of neutrals were too many to count. Chinese neutrality 
had been violated, Egypt and Cyprus had been annexed by 
Great Britain; the diplomatic representatives of Germany had 
been driven from China, Morocco, Egypt, all sovereign countries 
at the time. There was virtually no international law that 
could stand the test. 

Germany was not seeking territory in Europe. She did not 
believe in conquering unwilling nations. Belgium commands 
the western outlet of German trade, is the natural foreland of 
the Empire, and had been conquered at the cost of untold sacri- 
fice of blood and treasure. It offered to German trade the only 
outlet to the sea, and had been maintained and defended by Eng- 
land in order to keep these advantages from Germany. "So 
Belgium cannot be given up." 

"However, these considerations could be given up if all the 
other German demands, especially a guaranteed free sea, were 
fully" gi'anted. Germany is a country smaller than California, 
but populated 36 times as thickly as that State. She loves and 
fosters family life. German parents have no desire to see a 
considerable number of her children emigrate every year. This 
means that her industrial development should go on unham- 
pered. The activity of her people should have an outlet in 
such foreign parts as need development. 

Great Britain had shown little foresight in blocking such 
efforts, in putting Morocco into the hands of the French, a na- 
tion that has been stationary for forty-four years. A lasting 
peace "will mean that this German activity must get a wide 
scope without infringement on the rights of others." Germany 
should be encouraged to go on in Africa and Asia -Minor for 
the benefit of the whole world. The brunt of the war had been 
borne not by the men who fight, but by the women who suffer, 
and one of the proudest achievements of Germany w^ill be re- 
warding in a permanent beneficiary way the enormous sacri- 
fice of womanhood. 

That the letter was inspired from Berlin was generally be- 
lieved. Dr. Dernburg had often insisted that he held no of- 



150 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

ficial post. Yet it seemed beyond belief that lie should express 
such views without the approval of his Government. That he 
had set out the things that Germany desired, was thought to 
admit of no doubt. 

Transmitted to England the Dernburg Letter was hailed as 
a "trial balloon," a new move to enlist American support to 
Germany. 

Having stated the seven conditions of peace, Dr. Dernburg 
in the 'New York World gave ten reasons why Germany could 
not be beaten, therefore could enforce her terms when the time 
to make peace came. She had all the ammunition necessary, 
held all the territory she had taken, had fortified it strongly and 
could not be dislodged by the Allies. 

Reports from abroad now announced that in the fighting 
around Ypres the Germans had used asphyxiating gas. Con- 
cerning this Dr. Dernburg said that when in ^November, 1914, 
reports were published describing '^an astounding French inven- 
tion for the purpose of asphyxiating enemies by nauseating 
gases contained in shells," no excepticm was taken in America, 
no inquiry was addressed to the French correspondents of the 
newspapers to find out if the reports were true or false. "But 
as soon as the Germans used the same kind of weapon in this 
battle around Ypres," they had been roundly abused. 

"This is exactly what Germany complains of; that the 
press of this country very often measures with two standards; 
that what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander, 
and that if tlic Allies do one thing it is covered with a mantle of 
charity, excused and smoothed over, and if Germany afterwards 
does the very same thing she is held up for it by the iVnierican 
public as the real infractor of established law and decent cus- 
tom. 

"This is why Germany protests, and why they do not believe 
in the impartiality of public opinion in this country and why 
they do not take kindly to" the United States as a mediator in 
the world war. 

About a week before this letter of Dernburg's appeared Mr. 
Bryan replied to von Bernstorif's complaints. Though the note 
bore the signature of the Secretary of State the language, the 



AX EMBARGO DEMANDED 151 

literary style and rumors from Washington convinced the peo- 
ple that the author was no other than President Wilson. 

Your Excellency, said the Secretary in substance, has re- 
ferred to the interference of Great Britain with trade from the 
United States. Your Excellency's long experience in interna- 
tional affairs must have made you aware "that the relations of 
two Governments with one another cannot wisely be made a 
subject of discussion with a third Government which cannot be 
fully informed as to the facts, and which cannot be fully cogni- 
zant of the reasons for the course pursued." He had hoped the 
position of the Government in respect to its obligations as a 
neutral power "had been made abundantly clear," but he was 
"perfectly willing to state it again." 

"This seems the more necessary and desirable, because, I 
regret to say, the language which your Excellency employs in 
your memorandum is susceptible of being C(instrued as im- 
pugning the good faith of the United States in the perform- 
ance of its duties as a neutral. I take it for granted that no 
such implication was intended, but it is so evident that your 
Excellency is laboring under certain false impressions that I 
cannot be too explicit in setting forth the facts as they are 
when fully reviewed and comprehended." 

In the first place, at no time and in no manner had the 
United States yielded "any one of its rights as a neutral to 
any one of the present belligerents." The right of visit and 
search, the right to apply the rules of contraband of war, the 
right of blockade if actually maintained had been acknowl- 
edged and admitted "as a matter of course." They were but 
the well-known limitations placed on neutral commerce on 
the high seas. "But nothing beyond these has it conceded." 

In the second place, the Government had sought to secure 
from Great Britain and Germany concessions with regard to 
the measures they had adopted for the interruption of trade on 
the high seas. It did so as a sincere friend of both parties. 
"The attempt was unsuccessful, but I regret that your Excel- 
lency did not deem it worthy of mention in modification of 
the impressions you expressed." 

In the third place, it was noticed "with sincere regret" that, 
"in discussing the sale and exportation of arms by citizens of 



152 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the United States to the enemies of Germany," the German 
Ambassador seemed "to be under the impression that it was 
within the choice of the Government of the United States, 
notwithstanding its professed neutrality, and its diligent efforts 
to maintain it in other particulars, to inhibit this trade and 
that its failure to do so manifested an unfair attitude towards 
Germany." The Government held that any change in its laws 
of neutrality, made during the war, "which would affect, 
unequally, the relations of the United States with the nations 
at war, would be an unjustifiable departure from the principles 
of strict neutrality" and "none of the circumstances urged in 
your Excellency's memorandum alters the principle involved." 
Placing "an embargo on the trade in arms at the present time 
would constitute such a change and be a direct violation of 
the neutrality of the United States." It was "out of the ques- 
tion for this Government to consider such a course." 

A Berlin newspaper called the answer a mockery of the 
German standpoint. Nobody, outside of the White House, 
believed that the delivery of arms was not a violation of neu- 
trality, and that its prohibition would be unneutral. But Mr. 
Bryan proclaims that the weapon trade with one belligerent is 
real neutrality. This attitude, said another journal, will not 
be forgotten in Germany. The American attitude, said a 
third, can be explained only by the profits of the armament 
firms. 

Nevei4heless, the answer of the United States put an end, 
so far as Germany was concerned, to her protests against the 
export of arms and to the activity of the pro-German propa- 
gandists in its behalf. 

But with the retirement of Germany from the controversy 
she assigned the duty of further protest to Austria, from 
whom, on June 29, came a note of remonstrance. The far- 
reaching effects, it said, of the traffic in munitions of war 
between the United States, Great Britain and her Allies, while 
Austria-Hungary as well as Germany were "absolutely ex- 
cluded from the American market," had "from the very begin- 
ning attracted the attention of the [Imperial and Royal Govern- 
ment." 

Although "absolutely convinced" of the intention of the 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 153 

United States to preserve the strictest neutrality, it was a ques- 
tion wliether the conditions developed during the war did not 
in effect thwart the intentions of the Washington Cabinet, as 
the American Government was surely aware the "meaning and 
essence of neutrality are in no way exhaustively dealt with 
in the" provisions of the several Hague Conventions. The 
wording of Article 7 of the Fifth and Thirteenth Conventions 
might indeed afford "a formal pretext for the toleration of 
traffic in munitions of war now being carried on by the United 
States." But "to measure the true spirit and import of this 
provision" it was only necessary to point out that "the detailed 
privileges conceded to neutral states in the sense of the pre- 
amble . . . are limited by the requirements of neutrality 
which conform to the universally recognized principles of inter- 
national law." 

By none of "the criteria" laid down by writers on inter- 
national law could "the exportation of war requisites" from 
the United St-ates as it is being carried on in the present war be 
"brought into accordance with the demands of neutrality." 
That industry had "soared to unimaginable heights." In 
"order to turn out the huge quantities of arms, ammunition, 
and other war material" ordered in the past few months by 
Great Britain and her Allies, old plants had not only been 
enlarged, but new ones had been started, and workmen of all 
trades had flocked into this branch of industry in such num- 
bers that far-reaching changes in the economic life of the whole 
country had become necessary. That the American Govern- 
ment had the right to prohibit the export of munition by 
embargo could not be questioned. If it would use that power 
it "could not lay itself open to blame," for while it is true 
"that a neutral stSate may not alter its rules in force" for its 
treatment of a belligerent while war is being waged, yet it 
appears from the preamble of the Thirteenth Hague Conven- 
tion that this principle "suffers an exception in the case 'oil 
I'experience acquise en demontrerait la necessite pour la 
sauvegarde de ses droits,' " which being interpreted means 
"where experience has shown the necessity thereof for the pro- 
tection of its rights." 

To the objection that while American manufacturers were 



i:>l THE UXITKl) STATES T\ THE WORLD WAR 

us willing to furnish supplies to Austi-iii-IIungarv as to Great 
Britain and lier Allies, but could not do so because "of the 
war situation," it might be answered "that its Federal Gov- 
ernment is undoubtedly in a position to improve the situation." 
It might "confront the opponents of Austria-Hungary and Ger- 
many" with a threat to prohibit "the exportation of food- 
stuffs and raAv materials" unless lawful commerce with the 
Central Powers was allowed. 

The Government of the United States, Mr. Lansing replied, 
is surprised to find the Austro-IIungarian Government imply- 
ing that the observance under present conditions of the law 
is not sufficient, and asserting that "the Government should go 
beyond the long recognized rules governing such traffic by 
neutrals and adopt measures to 'maintain an attitude of strict 
parity with respect to both belligerent parties.' " 

jSTeither Germany nor Austria-Hungary had ever applied 
the principle urged by the Imperial and Royal Government. 
During the Boer War between Great Britain and the South 
African Republics the coasts of neighboring neutral colonies 
were patrolled by British naval vessels, supplies of arms and 
ammunition were cut oif from the Republics, and they were 
in a situation almost identical in this respect with that in which 
Germany and Austria-Hungary find themselves at present. 
Yet, despite the complete commercial isolation of one belliger- 
ent, Germany and Austria-Hungary sold to Great Britain, the 
other belligerent, explosives, gun-powder, cartridges, shot, and 
weapons. If at that time Germany and Austria-Hungary had 
refused to sell munitions to Great Britain because so to do 
would violate the spirit of strict neutrality, Austria-Hungary 
"might with greater consistency and greater force urge its pres- 
ent contention." During the recent war between Italy and 
Turkey arms and ammunitions were sold to the Ottoman 
Government by Germany. During the Balkan wars the 
belligerents were supplied with nmnitions by both Germany 
and Austria-Hungary. These instances clearly show the long- 
established custom of the two Empires. 

In view of this record the United States could not believe 
that Austria-Hungary would charge it with a lack of impartial 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED I5ry 

neutrality because it furnislied the Allies with munitions of 
war which the Imperial and Royal Government, because of 
present war conditions, was not able to obtain in the American 
market. 

But there was another reason, and "a very practical and 
substantial reason, why the United States has from the foun- 
dation of the Republic to the present time advocated and prac- 
ticed unrestricted trade in arms and military supplies." |It 
had never been our policy to keep up in time of peace large 
armies, or great stores of munitions ''sufficient to repel inva- 
sion by a well-equipped and powerful enemy." We desired 
to remain at peace and to avoid any appearance of menacing 
such peace by the threat of armies and navies. We had always 
relied on the purchase of arms and munition from neutrals, 
and this right which we claimed for ourselves we could not 
deny to others. 

The assertion that the exportation of arms and munitions 
was contrary to the preamble of the Hague Convention l^o. 13, 
Mr. Lansing answered by pointing out that one of the rules 
"explicitly declares that a neutral is not bound to prohibit 
the exportation of contraband of war." To the assertion that 
a neutral state may alter its rules ''concerning its attitude 
towards belligerents while war is being waged" when "experi- 
ence has shown the necessity thereof for the protection of its 
rights," Mr. Lansing replied that "the right and duty to deter- 
mine when this necessity exists rests with the neutral and not 
with the belligerent." If a neutral "does not avail itself of 
the right, a belligerent is not privileged to complain." Such a 
complaint "would invite just rebuke." To the assertion that 
the best text writers were unanimously of the opinion that the 
exportation of contraband was unneutral, the Secretary 
answered that "a careful examination of the principal authori- 
ties on international law" showed that less than one-fifth of 
them "advocated unreservedly the prohibition of the export 
of contraband." Even such a German authority as Paul 
Einicke had declared "such prohibitions may be considered 
as violations of neutrality, or at least as unfriendly acts, if 
they are enacted during a war with the purpose to close unex- 



156 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

pectedly the sources of supply to a party whicli heretofore 
has^.relied on them." 

[jThe effect on a disordered mind of the agitation for an 
embargo on the exportation of munitions was responsible for 
an attack on the life of Mr. J. P. Morgan, of ISTew York. A 
half -crazy fanatic who called himself Frank Holt went, on 
July 3, to the summer home of Mr. Morgan, forced the butler, 
by showing two revolvers, to admit him to the house, entered 
the parlor, and finding two children there, compelled them to 
follow him upstairs. There he was met by Mr. Morgan, who 
attempted to disarm him, but in the scuffle Mr. Morgan was 
shot twiceTj The purpose of the visit was stated by Holt after 
his arrest,''. 

I went to the Morgan house in order to ask him to use his great 
influence to stop the shipment of explosives. That is why I took some 
explosives with me, in order to be able to demonstrate to him what 
the use of a machine of murder means, but of course I did not mean 
to hurt any one. 

I wanted him to be in the same danger (him and-his family) that 
we are imposing on Europe. I wanted to send him out to the manu- 
facturers and men of influence to plead for American neutrality, while 
I held his wife and dear children as hostages in some upper room of 
his house. 

VjSolt, an accomplished lingaiist, was instructor in German 
at Cornell University and turned out to be Erich Muenter, one 
time instructor in Harvard University, who disappeared after 
indictment for the murder of his wife by poison in 1906. He 
committed suicide a few days after his arrest. 

A letter forwarded by his second wife to the Department 
of State contained the statement that "a steamer leaving l^ew 
York for Liverpool, July 3, should sink, God willing, on the 
seventh. I think it is the Philadelphia or Saxony (Saxonia) .'^ 
Warnings by wireless were at once sent off to both steamers, 
and by a strange coincidence on that day, July 7, a fire caused 
by an explosion broke out in the hold of the Minnehaha, which 
sailed on the fourth of July, and caused her to race back to 
Halifax. That Holt placed the bomb is not likely. Both be- 
fore and after his death bombs had been discovered on several 



AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 157 

steamships and had been the cause of fires while in port. In 
March the Touraine had so suffered. In May two vessels from 
Havre and Falmouth were found to have unexploded bombs in 
their holds, placed there before sailing. In September the 
Sant'Anne and in ISTovember the Rocliainbeau were set on fire 
by this means. 



CHAPTER VII 

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF OERMAN OFFICIALS 

The war was scarcely three weeks old when Hans Adam 
von Wedell, with the knowledge and approval of Ambassador 
von Bernstorff, made a flying visit to Berlin. He reached there 
in September, a bearer of dispatches to the Foreign Office, and 
in ISTovember was again in New York, eager to put into execu- 
tion a great plan to help the Fatherland. While in Berlin 
he ascertained that the German Government cared nothing 
for the return of the reservists in our country, but would gladly 
have the services of the officers scattered over the United States, 
Mexico and South America. The purpose of von Wedell was 
to send them back by means of passports bought from Span- 
iards, Swiss, Swedes, natives of any neutral country who for 
twenty-five dollars would make application and deliver the 
papers. All went well until von Wedell sought for an Ameri- 
can to aid him in the work and so avoid suspicion. A Tam- 
many lawyer found the man who agreed to deliver passports 
for thirty dollars each, and then promptly informed the Sur- 
veyor of the Port, who notified the Treasury Department, 
^v'hich informed the Department of State, which referred the 
matter to the Department of Justice. This done, the man 
returned to von Wedell, declared he could not go on, and prom- 
ised to find a substitute. 

Before the substitute came von Wedell heard from Captain 
von Papen that Dr. Stark, a bearer of one of the false pass- 
ports, had been stopped by the British at Gibraltar ; was warned 
by others that he was watched, and fled to Nyack on the Hud- 
son. Ere he went he picked out Carl Puroede, a lawyer, to 
carry on the work, and it was before Ruroede that the substi- 
tute, an agent of the Bureau of Investigation, appeared in the 
guise of a Bowery tough and gave the name of Aucher. He 

158 



I 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS. 159 

agreed to obtain the passports needed, and in time brought a 
genuine one made out in the name and bearing the photograph, 
duly stamped with the seal of the United States, of another 
agent of the Bureau of |Investigation and especially prepared 
at the request of the Department of Justice. 

Four photographs of German officers were then given 
Aucher by Ruroede, who wished to have passports at once 
that these men might sail on January 2, 1915, in the N^or- 
wegian Line Steamship B erg e7is fjord. Four were provided. 
But on January 2, 1915, Ruroede was put under arrest, and 
as the Bergensfjord was going down the bay on her way to sea 
she was brought to by a revenue cutter, all her passengers were 
lined up, and four Germans, reserve officers, were taken from 
her deck. Their names were Sachse, Myer, Wegener and 
Miiller ; but their passports bore the names of Wright, Hansen, 
Martin and Wilson, and had all been furnished by Aucher. 

In the course of his many visits to the office of Ruroede the 
secret agent, Aucher, found out that Captain von Papen sup- 
plied the money for the passports and for the needs of the 
returning officers, and that there was a fund for this purpose. 
Among the papers seized in the office of Ruroede were visiting 
cards of "Captain Franz von Papen, Military Attache to the 
German Embassy, Washing-ton, D. C," and of "Arthur Mudra, 
LL.D., Imperial German Consul, Philadelphia, Pa.," used to 
introduce the reservists ; lists sent by von Papen of officers 
to be supplied with passports, and instructions to German 
officers telling them how to behave when traveling on false 
passports. 

1. On no condition and in no way whatever must anything be let 
out in regard to the conditions under which the voyage was effected. 

2. During the passage one should keep aloof from other passen- 
gers and make no acquaintances on board. 

3. Deportment on board, during the trip, should, as far as it is 
at all possible, be in harmony with the particular characteristics 
described in the passport. 

4. Should any questions be asked, answer with reserve, and more- 
over, it is fitting to make use, as far as practicable, of the need created 
by sea-sickness for remaining in seclusion. 

5. Finally, everything will depend on the maintenance, in every 
J:espect, of absolute reticence. All incitements to political or similar 



160 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

discussions of the war or of soldiers and their obligations must be 
absolutely avoided. 

6. It should by no means be understood that on landing one 
should tell everybody everything that happened ; on the contrary, then 
too is silence absolutely necessary, lest through too much talking it 
become impossible for others to likewise get to the other side. 

7. Briefly, the watchword, always and at all times, is "Silence.'* 

March 8, Ruroede and the four reservists were found guilty 
and sentenced. At that time the espionage act had not been 
passed by Congress. Their sentences therefore were light. 
Euroede was sent to the penitentiary at Atlanta for three years, 
and each of the reservists was fined two hundred dollars. On 
the Bergensfjord when they were arrested was von Wedell, 
but his presence there was not suspected until Ruroede in a 
fit of anger made known the fact. Then the British Govern- 
ment was communicated with, and on January 11 the Ber- 
gensfjord was stopped by a British cruiser and Rosato Sprio, 
or Hans Adam von Wedell, was taken out of her. The cruiser 
was torpedoed on her way to port and went to the bottom with 
von Wedell on board. ^ 

Scarcely had Ruroede been placed under arrest and his 
office put in charge of one of the agents of the Bureau of 
Investigation when ''Wolfram von Knorr, Captain of Cruiser, 
ISTaval Attache, Imperial German Embassy, Tokyo," entered. 
He insisted on seeing Ruroede, was taken by the agent to an 
office of the Bureau of Investigation under the pretense that 
Ruroede was there, and was met by another agent, who pre- 
tended to be the man he wished to see. From the Captain 
it was then learned that von Papen had sent him, and had 
given him a memorandum which he presented. On it, among 
others, was the name of Werner Horn. 

A month later, February 3, 1915, the whole country knew 
that Werner Horn had attempted to blow up the international 
bridge at Vanceboro, Maine. 

According to his confession, he had come, at the opening 

of the war, to 'New York in hope of returning to Germany, 

for he was a first lieutenant in the German army, subject 

^For the facts concerning von Wedell and Euroede I am indebted to 
"Fighting Germany's Spies," by French Strother, in The. World's Work for 
March, 1918. 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS l6l 

to call for military duty; had failed in the attempt to return 
and while in New York had made an arrangement with certain 
persons to destroy the bridge. December 29, 1914, accordingly, 
he boarded the midnight train for Boston with a suitcase full 
of dynamite, which he placed under a lower berth in the sleep- 
ing car. Eeaching Vanceboro in safety, he was seen to hide the 
suitcase under a woodpile near a siding, visit the bridge, 
recover his suitcase and go on to the Exchange Hotel. There 
he remained until the night of December 31, when he gave up 
his room and set forth on his errand. The thermometer was 
at thirty degrees below zero; the wind blew eighty miles an 
hour; but he crossed the bridge, narrowly escaping destruc- 
tion by two passing trains, and placed the dynamite against a 
girder near the Canadian shore. Lest another train should 
come along before the fifty minute fuse he had was consumed, 
he cut off a part, leaving enough to burn for a few minutes, lit 
it with his cigar and hurried back to the hotel with ears, nose, 
hands and feet frozen. 

The explosion of tliQ dynamite wrecked the bridge suffi- 
ciently to make it unsafe and broke the glass in half the win- 
dows in Vanceboro. Wakened by the noise of the explosion, 
the proprietor of the hotel leaped from his bed and, thinking 
the boiler had burst, was hurrying to the cellar when he beheld 
Horn standing in the bathroom. ''I freeze my hands," he said, 
and the proprietor, opening the window, gave him snow to rub 
on them. The proprietor now went out to see what had hap- 
pened, and on his return Horn asked for a room, went to bed 
and slept until in the course of the morning he was wakened 
and put under arrest. He was charged with malicious mis- 
chief for breaking the glass in the windows of one of the 
houses, plead guilty and was sent to the county jail at Machias 
for thirty days. Meantime the authorities of the Department 
of Justice appeared and obtained a full confession. That 
von Papen was at the bottom of the scheme was perfectly clear, 
for Horn admitted that he met the Captain at the German Club 
in ISTew York, but nothing could induce him to say that 
von Papen sent him to blow up the bridge. Early in March, 
Horn was indicted before a United States Commissioner on a 



162 THE UNITED STATES IX THE WORLD WAR 

charge of violating the law regiihitiiig the transportation of 
explosives.^ 

Another case of the attempted use of a fraudulent American 
passport was brought to light on Fehruarv 24, by the arrest 
in ISTew York of liichard Peter Stcgler, said to be a reservist 
in the German navy. Papers found in his possession bore 
the sig-nature of Captain Boy-Ed. In his statement Stegler 
said that the Captain was the head of a German secret organi- 
zation for sending reservists into England as spies by supply- 
ing them with fraudulent American passports, and that the 
Captain had planned to send him to ascertain the strength 
of the British fleet in St. George's Channel; find out all he 
could concerning the fitting out at Belfast of British merchant- 
men to be sent, disguised as German vessels, to the mouth of 
the Elbe and sunk in order that Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven 
might be effectively blockaded. 

All this Captain Boy-Ed denied. 

March 1, at jSTew York, the Hamburg-American Line and 
five men were indicted by a Eederal Grand Jury, charged 
with having conspired to defraud the United States by false 
statements, false clearances of vessels from our ports, and false 
manifests of cargoes made in order that the vessels might go, 
not to the places for which they were cleared, but to deliver 
coal and supplies to German warships at sea. One of the men 
was Carl Blinz, managing director of the New York office ; 
another of the five was the superintendent of the line ; a third 
had been supercargo of the Lorenzo, which was surprised and 
captured by the British while delivering coal to the German 
raider Karlsruhe ; the fourth had been supercargo of the steam- 
ship Berwind which cleared for Buenos Aires and arrived two 
weeks late; the fifth was Adolpli Hachmeister. By the first 
indictment they were charged with conspiracy ''to defraud the 
United States in and by causing collectors of customs, by means 
of false statements, to make record and transmit untrue and 
inaccurate records." The second charged them with con- 
spiracy "to defraud the United States in and by obtaining 
clearance papers by means of false manifests." 

' The story of Werner Horn is told in detail, with photogravures of 
d(.r,.t»;crits, in The WorlrFs Work, April, U»1S. 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OE GERMAN Ol'l'IClALS lG'3 

Jn other words, from the day Germany declared war on 
Russia the office of the Hamburg-Americau Line had been to 
all intents and purposes an American branch of the German 
Admiralty, had turned I^ew York into a German naval base, 
and had from that jjort and others in our country dispatched 
no less than twelve vessels loaded with supplies for German 
ships of war in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and had cleared 
these vessels by means of false manifests. 

Germany and Great Britain had each complained of such 
aid to its enemy. Late in October, despite the fact that the 
Hamburg-American Line had been sending coal and supplies 
to German cruisers, Ambassador von Bernstorff wrote the Secre- 
tary of State that on the night of September 31, 1914, the tug 
F. B. Dalzell left ISTew York ''to carry provisions to the British 
cruiser Essex/' lying some five miles off Gedney Channel, that 
she had delivered ''ab(mt forty tons of fresh meats wrapped 
in cloth," and that in doing so passed "under the searchlight of 
the American warship Florida that was lying in front of the 
channel." Acting Secretary of State Lansing replied that 
the matter had been "thoroughly investigated," but the Gov- 
ernment had "not been able to find sufficient evidence" to 
prove that the Dalzell had furnished supplies to British 
warships. 

The British Ambassador now complained, acting under 
instructions from his Government, that the Italian steamship 
Amista, chartered by the Berwind-White Coal Mining Com- 
pany, had left Newport I*^ews loaded with coal, under a strong 
suspicion that it was for German cruisers. She had cleared 
on October 17 for Montevideo, by way of Barbadoes, and should 
have arrived there "at the slowest speed" on the twenty-fourth, 
but had not. "I have to add," he said, "that the systematic way 
in which neutral ships have left American ports in order to 
supply German cruisers, and have been allowed to operate 
freely in the ports of the United States, in spite of the warn- 
ings which have been given, is a matter which causes grave 
anxiety to His Majesty's Government," and to request that 
measures "be taken to prevent the use of the ports of the 
United States for this unneutral purpose." 

Mr. Lansing answered that every suspicious case of a vessel 



164 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

leaving American ports to supply German cruisers, when there 
was any basis of fact to support such suspicion, had been 
investigated in order to determine whether the transaction was 
hona fide or such as must be interfered with for the preserva- 
tion of the neutrality of the United States. Further than this, 
the Government ''did not understand that its duty" required it 
to go. "Otherwise the war would impose upon the United 
States the burden of enforcing restrictions which are not pre- 
scribed by the rules of international law." 

Following out this course of action, several vessels were 
detained and two ^Norwegian steamships were forced to unload 
their coal. Because of this Ambassador von Bernstorff, on De- 
cember 15, protested. The position taken by the United States 
that the delivery of coal and supplies to "warships of the 
belligerent states" was a violation of neutrality was, he said, 
"in the opinion of the Imperial German Government, untenable 
in international law." This opinion was fully stated in a 
memorandum which, under instructions, he forwarded. 

The neutrality declaration of the United States, von Berns- 
torif said, contained the words : "All persons may lawfully and 
without restriction by reason of the aforesaid state of war, 
manufacture and sell within the United States arms and muni- 
tions of war and other articles ordinarily known as contraband 
of war." In spite of it, however, various American port 
authorities had denied clearances to merchant vessels "which 
would carry needed supplies or fuel to German warships either 
on the high seas or in other neutral ports." According to inter- 
national law a neutral need not stop supplies of this sort, nor 
could it, "after allowing the adversary to be furnished with 
contraband, either detain or in any way disable a merchant ship 
carrying such a cargo." Only when the ports were turned 
"into bases of German military operations would the unilateral 
stoppage of the trade of those vessels become a duty." Such 
would be the case if Germany "kept coal deposits in the ports, 
or if the vessels called at the port in regular voyages on the 
way to German naval forces." But the occasional sailing of 
a vessel with coal or supplies for German warships "does not 
turn a neutral port into a German point of support contrar;y 
to neutrality." 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 165 

"Our enemies draw from the United States contraband of 
war, especially arms worth several billion of marks. This in 
itself they are authorized to do. But if the United States will 
prevent our warships occasionally drawing supplies from its 
ports, a great injustice grows out of the authorization, for it 
would amount to an unequal treatment of the belligerents and 
constitute a breach of the generally accepted rules of neutrality 
to German^^'s detriment." 

^N^ovember 22, the case of the Hamburg-American Line and 
the four officials indicted in March came up for trial in the 
United States District Court at JSTew York. 

We shall show, said the prosecuting attorney, that this con- 
spiracy extended from ISTew York and Philadelphia to San 
Francisco and ]^ew Orleans; that a man named Kulenkampff 
was employed by Dr. Biinz to clear two vessels in a hurry 
from Philadelphia immediately after the opening of the war; 
that one of these vessels, the Berivind, was loaded with coal; 
that soon after her departure Kulenkampff received from some- 
where in Germany $750,000; that he deposited the money in 
two New York banks, and was notified by Captain Boy-Ed 
that it was to be expended as the Captain directed; that some 
$500,000 of the fund was sent to San Francisco and was used 
to charter and supply three vessels with coal and provisions, 
and that these vessels sailed out and met the German cruiser 
Leipzig and perhaps the Dresden. 

Sixteen or seventeen ships the Government contended were 
used by the defendants to carry coal, water, wine, sauerkraut 
and supplies to the Leipzig, Dresden, Cape Trafalgar, Eher, 
Santa, Lucia, Eleanor Woerner and other men-of-war; each 
supply ship carried a supercargo bearing sealed instructions 
to be opened at sea. 

Counsel for the defendants admitted the charges of the 
Government as to twelve vessels, admitted that Dr. Biinz had 
sent them out to meet German cruisers as charged, admitted 
that not merely $750,000 but nearly $2,000,000 had been ex- 
pended for these purposes; but denied that the defendants had 
been guilty of any offense against the laws of the United States, 
denied any intent to defraud or deceive. 

The offer of concession was rejected and in the course of 



166 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD AVAR 

trial it came out that in the aiUuiun of 1913 Dr. Biinz was 
notified by the licaJ office at Ilamhurg that the Ctmipany had 
signed an agreement with the German Government to become 
operative in case of war, and that it might be seen at the office 
of the consul general at J^ew York, (^n reading the agree- 
ment, Dr. Biinz testitied, he found tliat the ITanilmrg- 
American Line had agreed in the event of a war to send coal 
and supplies to German warships in the Atlantic Ocean. So 
the matter rested until July 31, 1914, when the Hamburg 
office asked, by cablegram, "Are you ready to carry out our 
agreement with German Government ?" 

In carrying out the agreement it was admitted that twelve 
vessels had been used, at a cost, for vessels and supplies, of 
$1,419,391; but only one, tlio Bcrirind, accomplished her mis- 
sion. The others either retui'ued to port to escape capture or 
never left port because they were held under suspicion, or failed 
in their mission because the war vessels they were to serve 
had been sunk by the British. 

All these relief ships had been cleared for Buenos Aires, 
La Guayra, Monrovia or Cadiz, and their clearance papers had 
been obtained by meaus of false manifests. 

December 2, the jury found Dr. Karl Biinz, George Koel- 
ter, Adolph ITachmeister, and Joseph Poeppinghaus guilty on 
both charges. They had conspired tO obtain clearance from 
collectors of customs throughout the United States by means 
of false shipper's manifests and false captain's manifest. They 
had caused collectors of the ports throughout the United States 
to make false statistics and to transmit such false statistics to 
the Department of foreign and Domestic Relations, thus falsi- 
fying official records of the United States. 

December 4. sentence was imposed. In sending coal, provi- 
sions and supplies to German warships on the high seas, at a 
time when the LTnited States and Germany were not at war 
with each other, the defendants had done no wrong, the court 
held. ^Neither the law of Nations, nor any act of Congress, 
forbade such an undertaking. But they had defrauded the 
United States by obtaining from its officers clearances for 
their vessels to which they were not entitled. For this the 
Court sentenced Biinz, ITachmeister and Koelter each to 



TREACHEROUS ACTS Ol' CKRMAX OFFICIALS 167 

eighteen months imprisunnient in the Federal prison at Atlanta, 
and Poeppinghaus to a year and a day in the same institution, 
and fined the Hamburg- American Line one dollar. An appeal 
was taken to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, which 
in January, 1917, sustained the action of the lower court. 

Early in June, Paul Konig, head of the secret service of 
the Hanihurg-Ainci'ienn J^ine, was brought before a Federal 
Grand Jury in Xew York, that it might be determined whether 
or not the four affidavits presented to the Department of State 
l)y Ambassador von BernstorflF, declaring that the Lusilania was 
armed, were true. One of them was sworn to by Gustav Stahl, 
who disappeared as soon as it was made public. lie was now 
found and arrested in Albany, brought to Xew York, was placed 
on the witness stand and swore that his affidavit was true. 

"On the day prior to the sailing of the Lusilania I was 
asked by my friend, A. Lcitcli (Leach), who was employed as 
first cabin steward, to help him bring his trunk aboard. In 
the course of the evening we went aboard without being hin- 
dered by the quartermaster on guard. After having remained 
for some time in the 'gloria' (stewards' quarters) we went to 
the main stern deck. About fifteen or eighteen feet from 
the entrance to the gloria, on port and starboard respectively, 
J saw two guns of twelve and fifteen centimeters. They were 
covered with leather, but the barrels were distinctly to be seen. 
To satisfy my curiosity I unfastened the buckles to ascertain 
the caliber of the guns. I could also ascertain that the guns 
were mounted on deck on wooden blocks. . . . 

"On the foredeck there were also two guns of the same 
caliber and covered in the same manner." 

As he left tlie stand he was arrested on the charge of per- 
jury, was indicted a few days later and at his trial in Septem- 
ber ccmfessed he was guilty. All four affidavits were false and 
had been obtained by Kfhiig. 

The Government had recently been furnished by the Provi- 
dence Journal with evidence which led to the arrest of no less 
a personage than Yictoriana Iluerta, one time Provisional 
President of ^Mexico. When driven from Mexico, in 1914, 
Iluerta found a refuge in Spain, but came to the United States 
in April and went through the form of making his home on 



168 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Long Island. In June, under the pretense of visiting the Pan- 
ama Exposition, he started, apparently for San Francisco, but 
turned towards Mexico. As he left the train at I^ewnian, ISTew 
Mexico, not far from El Paso, where an automobile was wait- 
ing to take him across the border, he and his companion, 
General Pascual Orozco, were arrested and carried to Eort 
Bliss. He was charged with conspiracy to incite a revolution 
against a friendly country, Mexico, and released on bail. 
Orozco escaped on July 3, and Huerta and five others were 
arrested on new charges of violating the neutrality of the 
United States. The death of Huerta early in July ended the 
matter so far as he was concerned. Aided by Germany, he 
was really on his way to stir up another revolution and bring 
on war with the United States and so prevent the exportation 
of munitions. In proof of this the Providence Journal, in 
August, published a mass of evidence gathered by its secret 
agents. 

The arrest of Huerta at El Paso, it said, closed the first 
chapter of a plot to involve the United States and Mexico in 
war and so stop the exportation of arms to the Allies. The 
German Foreign Office was not only aware of the plot from 
the day it was put in operation at Barcelona, Spain, but orig- 
inated and directed it. "It was when Captain Boy-Ed, acting 
as the mouthpiece of Count von Bernstorif, tried to hire some 
American citizens to secure Huerta's safe conduct into Mexico 
and to undertake the work of transporting German reservists 
across the border that the exposure came." 

''The moment this offer was made, the Providence Journal 
was notified of it, and, acting under the advice of this news- 
paper, the men to whom this infamous proposal came went to 
Washington and laid the entire matter before President 
Wilson." 

Huerta and his fellow plotters were thereupon shadowed, 
and when he left New York under pretense of going to the 
Panama Exposition at San Francisco, the Department of 
Justice was warned. "Had Huerta proceeded to California he 
would not have been molested at that time. The moment he 
turned south and headed for El Paso it was decided to arrest 
him on his arrival in that city." 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 169 

The German Embassy, when it became aware that evi- 
dence of the plot was in possession of the authorities in 
Washington, "became panic-stricken," and Captain Boj-Ed 
spent two weeks in !N^ew York "doing his best to break down 
any possible evidence that the United States secret service men 
might find against him." 

The purpose of the plot, was "to divert the public mind in 
the United States from the crime of the sinking of the Lusi- 
tania," "To bring about a condition that would compel the 
Government, in order to carry through a successful campaign 
in Mexico, to insist that manufacturers of arms and munitions 
should cease supplying foreign governments until home de- 
mands were filled." To force the lease or purchase of the 
Hamburg-American and ITorth German Lloyd ships in I^ew 
York harbor for transport service. To cut off from Great 
Britain and Prance their supply of oil from Mexico. To force 
the President to lay an embargo on arms going to Mexico, and 
"use this declaration in an attempt to bring before the Ameri- 
can people the apparent difference in the Washington policy as 
between Mexico and the Allies in this respect," 

Large sums of money, the Journal said, had been paid 
Huerta since his arrival in this country; prominent Germans 
with property in Mexico had "known of the plot from the 
beginning" ; the German Embassy had been "repeatedly in com- 
munication with the Foreign Ofiice in Berlin with regard to 
this matter," and the Journal was "in possession of wireless 
messages which prove the interest and activity of the German 
Embassy in Mexican affairs." 

Huerta was arrested on June 28; on July 8 the wireless 
station at Sayville, Long Island, owned apparently by the 
Atlantic Communication Company, but really by the great 
Telefunken Company of Berlin, was taken over by the Federal 
Government. 

By the press the charges against the German Embassy were 
thought very serious, but the Providence Journal is a news- 
paper of standing, it was said, and presumably has adequate 
proof, and the men involved are suspicious characters. Again 
and again they have been concerned in acts for which they 
ought to be brought to book. Many a minister has been handed 



170 THE UNITED STATES TX THE ^^OT^J) WAR 

his passports for less weighty offenses. The utter unscriipu- 
lousness of Ambassador von Bernstorff does not need to be dem- 
onstrated, lie has often used his office to, embarrass the Gov- 
ernment. That lie shonkl find in Huerta a useful tool is not 
surprising. The man the Government had been instrumental 
in driving out of Mexico clierished vindictive feelings. Why, 
then, should he take up residence in the country whose Gov- 
ernment had caused his fall ? Because if he went back to 
Mexico as a German agent he could do 'much mischief. He 
might bring on war, Tn that event the exportation of arms 
to the Allies would be stopped ; the export of oil from Mexico 
might be stopped, and if the United States sent troops to Mex- 
ico it would be hampered in enforcing its demands on Ger-« 
many. The whole intrigue is onl)^ too characteristic of the 
pro-German campaign. The denial of the Secretary of State 
of any knowledge does not meet the issue. The Journal says 
it laid the proof before the President. If so, why did he not 
lay it before the public ? 

Count von Bernstorff' now announced that, because of the 
I'eport that he and others had planned to send Huerta to Mex- 
ico to create conditions that would draw the United States and 
Mexico into war, he had made to the Secretary of State a 
formal complaint in behalf of the Imperial German Govern- 
ment. 

Meantime, on July 31, Dr. Albert, Financial Adviser of 
the German Embassy, while traveling on the Elevated Bail- 
way in ISTew York, lost a portfolio containing documents of 
various sorts. It was stolen from him, he said, by a British 
spy. However this may be, they came into the possession of 
the !N'ew York ^Yorld, and on August 15 and following days 
were published. Some of the letters shown by photo-engravings 
bore the signatures of Count von Bernstorff, Captain von 
Papen, Dr. Albert, Herr Hugo Schmidt, representing the 
Deutsches Bank of Berlin, and of many others whose names 
meant nothing to the public. 

The story as told by the World was, in substance, that it 
had in its possession a correspondence revealing unmistakably 
the fact that representatives of the German Government were 
promoting ventures directed not only against the powers with 



TKKA(:in;iu)i s a( is oi r,i:ii.\iA\ oi i k jaj.s 171 

W'hiolj it was at vva)-, hut aptaiust tlic [Suited Stat*;.s an w;)!; 
that the chief actors wero Ainhasnador von JicrnHtorff, Captain 
Franz von Papon, Dr. Alhert, Ilerr Hugo Sclimldt, repre- 
senting tlie I)c;ut,s('}ieH liank of Berlin, and that the work of 
these agents was to ge-t control of and inliuence tlie press of 
the United States, estahlish news services, finance professional 
lecturers, and moving picture shows, and "to enlist the sup- 
port of American citizens and puhlish hooks for the sole pur- 
pose of fomenting internal discord among the American p(?ople, 
to the advantage of the German Empire." 

The G(;rman Government thr<jugh its agents sought control 
of the New York' JjJvenintj Mail, and of the American Press 
Association, was^Hiilding a large munitions plant, was responsi- 
Ide for the strikes in tlie Remington Works, was conniving witli 
disloyal trade union leaders to foment others, and while sp^iud- 
i^g large sums to arouse the people to demand that war muni- 
tions 1x3 not shipped to the Allies, the German Government 
was arranging to manufacture munitions for itself in the 
United States, and had financed the Fdiherlawl. The d<x;u- 
ments in possession of the World, the editor of the Faiherlawl , 
said, had hecn stolen hy a British spy from Dr. Alhert. 

The Providence Journal now asserted tliat secret infoj-- 
mation from the departments at Washington had come to the 
German Emhassy; that Horn had confessed that he was ordered 
to blow up the Vanceboro bridge by an attache of the Embassy, 
that this attache was Captain Franz von Papen, and that from 
records of all wireless mesrsages sent from and received at Say- 
ville, furnished the State Department by the Journal, the Depai-t- 
mcnt believed that during the period "covering the week prior 
to the LusHania's sailing and the day of her destruction" code 
messages were sent by Captain Boy-Ed, giving to the Geraian 
Admiralty infoiination as to the route and daily position of tlie 
Lusitania, furnished by a sj»y in the office of the Cunard 
Company, 

All these charges, Ambassador von Bernstorff said, would 
be given official attention at the proper time. "It would be 
undignified to answer them piecemeal at the present time." 

XeverthelesK, on August 18, he made to Secretary Lansing 
a long statement "concerning the facts." Most of the docu- 



172 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

ments found in Dr. Albert's portfolio, lie said, were insignifi- 
cant. They were proposals, offers, advice of the most "unbal- 
anced and irresponsible" kind, coming from every conceivable 
source. As to the proposals to hamper munition plants, both 
the German and Austro-IIungarian (Jovernments considered it 
their "right and duty, so long as Great Britain continued her 
piracy on the high seas, to protect themselves against this inter- 
national system of robbery by placing difficulties, as far as pos- 
sible, in the way of the export of war materials for the Allies, 
either by the purchase of the factories or of war material, in 
spite of the fact that at present we are not in a position to 
make use of these goods for our own protection." He pro- 
tested against branding as German propaganda any attempt 
to control the output of a single American factory. As to the 
false suggestions "based on certain letters that I, or some one 
else who has relations with the German Government, have taken 
part in instigating or forwarding strikes in munition factories, 
I can only say that such assertions or insinuations are ground- 
less." 

From the Providence Journal came still more charges. At 
the request of the President, it said, documents which proved 
that for several years before the war a German spy system 
existed in the United States had been laid before Secretary 
Daniels and the members of the N^eutrality Board. Dr. Frank, 
head of the Sayville Wireless Station, in January, 1909, sought 
to obtain admission to parts of an American ship, not open 
to visitors, in order to obtain the secret of its fire control 
system. That in 1911, during the Morocco trouble, the naval 
attache at the German Embassy attempted to use the Sayville 
Station to send orders to the German fleet cruising in the 
British Channel and ISTorth Sea. That in 1910 the same 
attache attempted to obtain full and accurate information con- 
cerning the entire wireless service in the United States, the 
naval radio service included. That in May, 1911, the Telefun- 
ken Company of Berlin, under orders from the German For- 
eign Office, sought to submit to the United States Government 
a bid for supplying and installing a large number of wireless 
stations in the Philippines, at stations marked on a special 
map supplied to the Telefunken Company by the German Gov^ 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GKRxMAN OFFICIALS 173 

ernment. That in 1913 the general manager of the Telefunken 
Company and an officer of the German army sought to obtain 
control of "an entire chain of private wireless stations, and of 
stations owned by other Governments in South and Central 
America working through Sayville." 

Further evidence presented to Secretary Daniels went to 
show that a civilian employed in the electrical service of the 
!N^avy Department was in the pay of Germany, and that in 
1913, when the Department ordered a report on conditions at 
Sayville, "the report was in the possession of the German Gov- 
ernment before it reached the United States Government." 
German interests had done "everything in their power to force 
the ship purchase bill through Congress" as a n^eans of forc- 
ing "the purchase of the Hamburg-American ships tied up in 
New York Harbor." 

Evidence, supporting many of the charges made by the 
Providence Journal, now came from a most unexpected source. 
On August 30, an American newspaper correspondent, Mr. 
James J. F. Archibald, on his way to Germany on the Rot- 
terdam, was detained by the British authorities at Falmouth. 
He was the same Mr. Archibald who in April had traveled 
about the country delivering a pro-German illustrated lecture 
intended to set forth the power and efficiency of Germany. 
In his possession were found some thirty-four documents which 
he was to deliver in Berlin ^nd Vienna. Among them were 
letters of recommendation to the German and Austro- 
Hungarian authorities from Dr. Dumba, Count von Bernstorff 
and Captain von Papen. He "is again going to Germany and 
Austria-Hungary," said von Papen, "to collect new impressions 
from the point of view of the strictly inLpartial journalist that 
he has always been." "I have heard with pleasure," said 
von Bernstorff in a letter to Mr. Archibald, "that you wish 
once more to return to Germany and Austria after having 
promoted our interests out here in such a zealous and successful 
manner." 

The all important letter which was at once cabled to ISTew 
York from London and promptly published in the newspapers 
was written by Dr. Dumba to Baron Burian, the Austro- 
Hungarian Foreign Minister, inclosing an aide memoire from 



i:i Till", I Ninn srvns i\ riii' woiun wak 



till" ^^ll(^M• ot ;iu 1 1 uni',;\ri;iu ucwspn jUM' snt^m>st iui;' lunv a sfi-iki' 
n\i!;ht hr bvimglit iibont at tlio nothlrlnMii Strrl niul .Miiniti.Mi 

AVvM-ks, 

"\ ostovihiv I'vi'tiino- CimisuI luMUMal viui Nubor voi'imvimI 
tlio onoloscd (i/(/(' numoirc (vou\ (lu> ohict' »>tlitor o( tho KhmIIv 
kiunvii papor, S:aho(fsot}. i\\'[cv a pri'vunis vont'tMi'tu-o with liini 
ami in jmrsuanco of his proposals to airanuo t'of strikt^s in tho 
HothloluMn Si'hwah Stool an*! Munitions War I'aotory, and also 
in tlu' Miihllo Wost. 

"Pr. Ai\'hihahl. who is wi'll known to Vi>\ir Lordship, h'avos 
to ilav at twolvo o\'loi'k on hoard tho Rotfcrtiajii \ov Horlin and 
\ ionna. 1 tako this raro and sat\> (>ppoitunitv to warndy 
vooonunond ttu- proposal to your Lordship's t"avorahlo oonsiil- 
oratiiui, 

"It is uiy iniprossiou that wo oau d i so riiani.u^ and hold up 
for months, it' not iMUiroly provont, tho niannt'aotnri^ ot' numi- 
tions in Hothltdioin and tho Midillo Wost. whioh, in tho opinion 
o( tho luMMuan military attaoho. is ot" i;i"oat iniportanoo and 
sunply ontwoii;hs tho oxjHMulituvi" o\' nionoy involv»\l. 

"Hut it' tho strikes ^\o not oonio otV it is prohahlo that wi' 
should oxtort. \indtM- prossuri^ ot' tho I'risos, nioro t'avorahlo oon- 
ditiin\s ot' labor tor our pi>or, ilowntrvuhlon t'ollow-ovUintrynuMi. 
In Hotldohoin tlu^so whito slavos aro uinv working- tor twolvo 
hours a day and sovon days a woi>k. All woak porsons snoo\nnh 
and hooonio oonsnuq^tivos. So tar as iuM-nian worku\on aro 
found anioui;- tho skilloil hands, a moans ot' h^ivin^- will Ih" pro- 
vidod t'lU" tluan. In^sidos ihis, a [M-i\aio luMu\an rt^^isti'v otlioo 
has boon ostablishi'd. whioh providos iMuploymont lor porsons 
who havo voluntarily i;ivon up thoir phu'os, and is alroady work- 
iui;- woll. riu>y will also join and ilu" widost su{>jv>rt is 
assurod )is. 

"I bt\u- your b'.xooUonry to 1h> so uood as to int'orm mo with 
vot'oronoo to this loltin- by wiroloss toloiiraphy, roplyiuj;- whothor 
yon agroo." 

Pr. Pnmha whon soon at 1.»miox by tlu" nowspapor oorn"- 
spondouts was ni^t at all disturbod. aduutttvl wriiinu' tho lottor, 
and said, "1 oan't undorstand lunv Ari'hibald oonhl havo btvn 
so stupid." Ivvorythiui;' oonhl bo I'xplainod. Tho proposals 
to onibarrass tho stool works woro nothiui;' mon^ than "a vorv 



TRKAC-'i/UfOfS Ar/r.S OI MJ;MA\ ()\ I ICIALr, Mr, 

open jui'l j>)ojy*;i- /»if;tljr^fj \.() U; iiiV.cu t,o l>rin^^ before oiir ra/^.*H 
«rnp)oyf;<i i/i flie f))^/: Htx-e) workn tJie fact, tfjat they arrj CAi^a^j-A 
in eriferpn'.-e.H vvhiefi are unfrieri'lly t.r; tlie-ir FatherJarifJ arj'J 
that tiir; J;nperJal OoveTurnent woiilr) fioJ'l tfje worker.H in muni- 
tion pJantH wliere c/itiinicAH 'die, lu-Jn^ i\\U',<\ f'lr the AJIie-H, a« 
FK;in^ ^yilyy of a Herioux cviuu; againnt their cj)\nitry." Jn 
onier to hrin^^ thin Ih'A'oic, the natives of Bohemia, Moravia, 
Camiola, Oalieia, l)ahnatia, Croatia, Slavonia, anrJ other ra/'/iH 
from AiJHtria-JIun^^ary he ha<j "Hijh.Hi'JizeJ many newxpafXjrH 
puhlinhed in the luiijinhjio-H an<J rJialeetH of tho rJiviKion.H rnen- 
tionf;'J, attemptin^^ in tliiH way to hring their feloniouH ^x^ru- 
pationn trj their attention." Thin m-Aniicd to him "a jxjar^jful 
an(J entirely HHi'iH factory taciuiA of preventinjr tfie jitukini/ an^J 
hfiiprnfint of war material to our Allien." 

'I Ijf; ('><)V(:niiii(i!ii, thou^^it otfirjrwi.He ari'J '^n September 8 
re'jueHtefJ that I>r. I >ii in ha [<r; rer;alle'l. 

Mr. (Jo/iHtantine l)\itnhn, the Auntro-Jfuntrarian ArnhnHnador at 
WaHhin^ton, ha.H adtiuticd that he ]tT<)\K>'AfA to hJH Govern rri^nt planH 
to inHtijfate Htnlntn in Arneriean rnanu fa«^rtiirinjf pJant^H en«atr'/J in 
the produetion of rnunitionH of war. The information nra';hed thin 
Governrnrriit throuj^h a eopy of a le-tter of the ArnbaHHador to hiH 
(iovcrniiKiii. 'I'he b(-arer waH an American citr/jni umttf-A Arf;hibald 
who wan traveling under an Aifn^ricusi paKHport. The Amba-i.Hador hai 
'd<lmittfA tiiHt he (;inp]oy<stl Archibald t/^ bear r/fficial di^patchwi from 
him to hiH Government. 

liy reaHon of the fidmlt,t/:d fiorfxr^.o. and 'uiU;itt of Mr. l>ijmba t/< 
conHpire to orippb; hjritimate indu;-,tri<« of the people of the I'niU-A 
HtatCH nnd to ifit,f;rnj|>t their h-gitimatf; trad**, and by r<:Hv/)n of the 
fl;if<rant, violation of diplomatic propriety in employinj^ an American 
ciU/A-M, j)r()i<:(d*A by an American pfiHHport, aH a necret bearer of 
official diHpat.che*» throiJ(?h the line« of the enemy of AuHtria-JIunj<ary 
. . . Mr. D(imba in no longer acceptable t/< the Government of thr; 
United Statetj a» the AmbaaHador of bin Imperial Majesty at 
Waahington. 

i.)r. liurnha denired to return on a leave of 'dSimiwj-, hut the 
Secretary of State in.siHted on a recall. 'y\niT<i\i\y<>x\ he addreHHr;rJ 
an impudent note of protent to the i-^acTdtary of State and made 
it puhlir; tluou^'li the nevvHpaper.'j. 

W'liiJe thf; nevv:-;[<a[)frH wen; attacking l>uniba for liin inno- 



176' THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

lenco, a White Paper, containing the thirty-four letters taken 
from Mr. Archibald, was laid before Parliament, on Septem- 
ber 21, and tho documents, innnediately telci^raphed to the 
United States, were published in tlu^ newspapers. Among them 
were three letters from Dumba. One was that already made 
jniblic. Another was a report on the documents lost by Dr. 
Ileinrich Albert on July 31. The letter of Dr. Dund)a was 
dated August 20. 

A portfolio eoiitnininf? a iiunibor of i)apor9 wna stolon from the 
Fiiiaiu'ial Advisor of tho Ooniian Embassy liorc, oviilontly by the 
English Soorot Sorvioo. Thoso papers woro all typewrit ton, nnfin- 
ished copios. or olso momorials from petitioners (Kingaben voti 
JBittstelleni). 'Vhc documonts woro innnediately published ns n great 
sensation and with nuiili tom-tom boatinj:: by tho World, which has 
entirely gone over to the English jingo eamp. Tho gravest aeenaa- 
tions are made l\v the papers against the (Jennan Kmbassy. Connt 
von EernstorlT, tlie military attache, Captain von Eapen, and (Jeheim- 
rat Albert, in partienlar in that they had secretly conspired against 
the safety of the United States by pureliasing arms and nuniition 
factories, by making false contracts with Russia and France, by 
acquiring great (piantities of materials for exi)losives, also by attempt- 
ing to corrupt the Tress, and to stir up strikes in munition factories; 
also by organizing in every class in America a widesjiread agitation 
in favor of effecting a general embargo. Tho other great New York 
papers second the Worldj though less violeiitly. Their Icatling articles 
deal with the exposure of the facts, and accuse Cicnnany of every 
possible and impossible macliination ; for instance, tliey, like the 
World, assert that tlie Cerman Government wislu^s to prevent the 
supply of ammunition in the case of the Allies, and at tho same time 
secretly to send over large quantities from here for their own use. 

Count von Bernstorff took up tho position that these slanders 
required no answer and had tho happy inspiration to refuse any 
explanation. lie is in no way compromised. On tlie contrary, it 
appears from the published correspondence of various press agents 
that he had put his veto on the purchase of a press agency. 

Geheimrat Albert, on the other hand, published a very clever 
explanation, the text of which I permit myself to lay before your 
Excellency. The German Embassy derives especial benefit from hav- 
ing already on the fiftec>nth of .June olKcially announced to tho State 
Department that they were obliged to buy as nuich war material as 
possible in this country to control its delivery in order to prevent tho 
enemy from acquiring it. This material is now at the disposal of tho 



'JilKACilEROUS AC'JS OF GKJi.MAX f)I I /rjAJ..S 177 

American ()()V(:rni[i<-Jii, <-'ii\t<:r in v/fiol'; or in part, at favorafjf; prio'frf, 
and itH acquiwition by th*j IJniU^J St.at'rH v/oul'J orily horvr,- to \u<:r<:nn<; 
their iircpan-AncHH \<>t war. 

ThiH knockn tho \t(A.\/)ii\ out of tie; ri'Ji'Miloiw accuKatJori. of a ':on- 
Hpiracy. Moroovor, witFi n-irnrA to th<: ucj'.UHut'ioti of Htirrinj^ up 
Htrikc'H, th'Tfi in no c.w'uU-.fu-M V) Hupport th^; bar*? c}mr(i<:. In Kpit'; of 
thiH, ovf;rytbint^ (U-niinii }t';r<t will be Htill /non; enerj/ctically and 
<x>nHihtontly Hla/idered and befouled. No irnpartjal ])i:rr/)ii eould fail 
t/^> be irnpreHfied by a f*f*;lintf of jrratitude at the wide activity of 
Oeheirnrat Albert, 'llicra are, bowrrver, very few impartial peopl/i in 
Ne-w York. 'I'be t/>rpedoinj/ of t.fje Arabic, should «hc have been sunk 
without warnin(<, or nhould a/iy Anieriean pHHw-n^crn have loHt their 
liven, will have a more unfavorable efT<;et ag re^ardn fjermany on pub- 
lie opinion in the United Staten of America than all tlie newHpaXKT 
revehitionri. 

'J }je Jioyal and ]nij>erial A;/;ba:--,-,ador, 

J J CM 15 A. 

Tho third letter from I)r. J>urnba related to -Mr. Lanning's 
reply to the AiJHtrf>-]]ungariari note of .June 20. 

\ew York, Auj<'JHt 20, 1915. 

Subjeet: TjHclrjHBncHH of atternf^tn to [>rin« about ari e-njbarj^o on 
weapons and rnunitionH. 'J'be proliibition of hfiippinfr munitions in 
paHHen^er Hhips to be attempt<;d afre-Hh. 

1, Enclosure. 
To Ills Exeellency the Eoreif^^n Minist^;r, 
P'reiherr von liiirian. 

The reply of .Mr. Lansinf? to the not/; of the twcnt,y-rinth of Juno, 
in which your KxcAilhtncy prot«^,*«ted af^ainst the enormous deliveries 
of weapons and munitions t<'> the Allies from the I'lnij-A HtaUtH of 
America was publinhed h<;re — J do not know whether with the a^rrw- 
ment of the Austrian Government — <^n the J 0th ult. 

As was to Uj expect/,'d, tlie refusal was quite catf:(^oricaL 7'he 
legal arj^uments are certainly very weak, for the referenwi t/^ tli'; 
articles supplied by Germany and Au«tria durinj^ the iioer War are 
not to the point and are misleadin(<, for at that time Germany claimed 
the right to send foodstuffs to the Jioers via the neutral port, of 
Lorenzo .Marques and — if J am not mistaken — carried the point, after 
the war, aj^ainst England. 

The true ground of the discoura^nt? attitude of the IVe-sident 
lifts — as his confidant, Air. Ifouse, already informed me in January 
and has now repeat^,-d — in the fact that authoritative circk-s are con- 
vinced that the Unitf;*! Stat^.-H of America in any HcriouH crises would 
have tfj rely on neutral foreig^n countries for all their war mat^;rial. 
At no price and in no case will Mr. Wilson allow this source to dry up. 



178 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

For this reason I am of opinion that the return to the question, 
whether officially by a reply from your Excellency, or by a semi-official 
conversation between myself and the Secretary of State, is not only 
useless, but even, having regard to the somewhat self-willed tempera- 
ment of the President, harmful. In this matter I agree entirely with 
the view expressed by Consul Schwegel in the report attached. The 
President has broken all the bridges behind him and has made his 
point of view so definite that it is impossible for him to retreat from 
this position. As last autunni, he can always, through his personal 
influence, either force the House of Representatives to take his point 
of view against their better judgment or, on the other hand, in the 
Senate, can overthrow a resolution, already voted, in favor of pro- 
hibiting the export of guns and munitions. 

In these circumstances any attempts to persuade individual States 
to vote parallel resolutions through their legislative bodies offer no 
advantages, apart from the internal difficulties which the execution 
of this plan presents. 

The proposal to forbid passenger ships to carry munitions stands 
on a difl^erent footing, however. Mr. Bryan and his democratic sup- 
porters would stand for this prohibition rigorously, and I believe that 
the President would not show himself so "intransigeant" with regard 
to this action. 

As for the note of protest against the British interference with 
shipping (Seeuhergrijfe), which has so often been notified and as 
often postponed, I learn that the issue has been delayed in conse- 
quence of the imminent declaration of cotton as contraband. The 
feeling which obtains amongst the great American importers is accu- 
rately represented in Mr. Meagher's speech, quoted by Consul 
Schwegel. Mr. Meagher is one of the principal exporters of the 
United States of America, for he is a partner of the Chicago firm of 
Armour & Co., who, with the firm of Swift, control the meat market 
of the whole Western Hemisphere. 

Mr. Meagher, whom 1 recently met on a yacht, and whose acquaint- 
ance I had already made in Chicago, is absolutely furious with regard 
to England's arbitrary acts. No fewer than thirty-one ships with 
meat and bacon shipments of his firm for Sweden, in value nineteen 
million dollars, have been detained in English i)orts for months under 
suspicion of being ultimately intended for Germany. The negotia- 
tions are being so long drawn out because Mr. Meagher and his com- 
panions will not accept a lame compromise, but insist on full compen- 
sation or release of the consignments in which the bacon may be still 
sound. My informant further gave me to understand that he had not 
yet played his last trump — namely, the refusal to import meat to 
England in any circumstances. He, that is to say, the two above- 
named slaughtering houses, controlled the Argentine market. At the 
present moment they are paralyzed here also by the action of the 
British Admiralty, for the latter have commandeered most of the 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 179 

English freight ships intended for the transport of meat from the 
Argentine. If England stood face to face with the danger of not 
being able to get any meat from the United States of America, or 
the Argentine, she would soon give in. 

What the immediate result of making cotton contraband will be 
is hard to say. The anger of those interested in cotton will be 
enormously increased. On the other hand, the fear of the threatened 
confiscation may make the leaders of the Cotton Trust so yielding 
that they, against their better judgment, may agree to the sale of the 
greater part of the present supply en hloc to England, who would be 
in the position in the future to control the whole cotton market, and, 
on peace being declared, to force on the whole world fantastic prices 
for this essential raw material. 

The Imperial Ambassador, 

C. DUMBA. 

There were also two letters from Captain von Papen. 
These related to the papers lost by Dr. Albert, and reviewed 
the effect of their publication from a business point of view. 

Bridgeport Projectile Company: — The report of the treasurer of 
this society of June 30, which I forwarded on July 13, J. No. 1888, to 
the Imperial War Office, was among the stolen papers. 

The statement published in the newspapers of the president of the 
Etna Explosives Company, that he wished to repudiate the powder 
contract with the Bridgeport Projectile Company, is naturally only 
newspaper gossip, and was weakened yesterday by a new announce- 
ment of the firm. 

I do not think that the manufacturers will put many difficulties 
in our way with regard to the delivery of the presses, for the careful 
phrasing of the contract makes an attack upon the Projectile Com- 
pany, under the well-known Sherman Law, out of the question, and 
the view that the manufacturers had thought that the consignments 
were intended for the Allies — that is to say, that we obtained the 
contracts under false pretenses — is not strong enough from a legal 
point of view to expose the manufacturers to the expenses and conse- 
quences of a legal action. 

The only actual damage consists therein, that the Russian and 
English Commission broke o& their negotiations with the Bridgeport 
Projectile Company at once, and accordingly our prospects of pre- 
venting other firms here from embarking on the supply of war mate- 
rial by the undertaking and the non-delivery of a shrapnel contract 
have come to nothing. 

The purchase of phenol by Dr. Schweitzer from the Edison Com- 
pany, which was discovered at the same time, has been settled by the 



180 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

public declaration that this phenol was only to be used for medicinal 
purposes. 

Most of all, our attempts with regard to the purchase of liquid 
chlorine have been hindered, as any control (Bindung) of the Castner 
Chemical Company, which is friendly to England, through a middle- 
man seems now out of the question. 

I will make use of the means put at my disposal (information of 
Mr. Grithen) in order to come to an agreement with the Electro- 
Bleaching Gas Company. 

The publication of the negotiations with regard to the acquisi- 
tion of the Wright patents is without importance, because our view 
that we could obtain a legal decision against the Curtiss Company 
probably could not have been maintained. 

The culminating point of all attacks against us lies in the asser- 
tion of the "unstraightforwardness and deceit" of German policy, 
which, on the one hand, carries on with all the means at its disposal a 
propaganda for the prohibition of the export of arms, and, on the 
other hand, secretly purchases war material for Germany. This accu- 
sation could not better be refuted than by the publication of the 
memorandum which the Imperial Ambassador already on the twelfth 
of June addressed to this Government at my request. 

It is worthy of note that in reply to the telegraphic request of his 
Excellency to the State Department to be good enough to publish this 
memorandum the reply was : "We cannot find it, please send a copy." 

The existence of the memorandum is evidence beyond all doubt 
that, in the first place, the purchase of war material by us was a 
consequential part of our propaganda for the prohibition of the export 
of war material, and that, in the second place, our action met in the 
widest sense the views of the United States Government with regard 
to strengthening their own fighting power at the present moment. 

From this point of view the publication can only be regarded as 
advantageous. 

Papen. 

His second letter, the "idiotic Yankees" letter, was written 
to his wife. 

New York, August 20, 1915. 
We have great need of being "bucked up," as they say here. Since 
Sunday a new storm has been raging against us — and because of 
what ? I'm sending you a few cuttings from the newspapers that will 
amuse you. Unfortunately they stole a fat portfolio from our good 
Albert in the Elevated (English secret service, of course!), of which 
the principal contents have been published. You can imagine the 
sensation among the Americans ! Unfortunately there were some 
very important things from my report among them, such as the buy- 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 181 

ing up of liquid chlorine and about the Bridgeport Projectile Com- 
pany, as well as documents regarding the buying up of phenol (from 
which explosives are made) and the acquisition of the Wright 
aeroplane patent. 

But things like that must occur. I send you Albert's reply for 
you to see how we protect ourselves. We composed the document 
together yesterday. 

It seems quite likely that we shall meet again soon. The sinking 
of the Adriatic (sic) may well be the last straw. I hope in our 
interest that the danger will blow over. 

How splendid on the Eastern front. I always say to these idiotic 
Yankees they had better hold their tongues — it's better to look at all 
this heroism fuU of admiration. My friends in the army are quite 
different in this way. 

A sixth document was a copy of a note from Ambassador 
von Bernstorif to the Secretary of State. It was written on 
August 18, just at the time the New York World was publish- 
ing the papers lost by Dr. Albert. 

Because of "the wide publicity given to documents and 
letters stolen from a member of my staff," and "the entirely 
false and unjustifiable conclusion attempted to be drawn from 
these documents as appears in the press comments and leading 
articles," he had decided "to make a short statement confirm- 
ing the facts." 

As the representative of one of the great nations involved 
in the world war, it was inevitable that he "should receive 
from every conceivable source and from most unbalanced and 
irresponsible authors, proposals and advice." Most of the 
documents found in the stolen portfolio, he said, were of this 
kind. 

"It is asserted that the documents show that the German 
Government" is acquiring ammunition factories while at the 
same time demanding that the export of war material to the 
Allies be stopped, and that it was supporting "a propaganda 
in favor of this." He could not "understand on what grounds 
criticism of our behavior in this respect can be based." He 
regarded it as "a right and duty, so long as Great Britain con- 
tinued her piracy on the high seas," to place "difficulties as far 
as possible in the way of the export of war material for the 
Allies either by the purchase of factories or war material, in 



182 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

spite of the fact that for the present we are not in a position 
to make use of these goods for our own protection." 

"If," he continued, "we possessed the means and oppor- 
tunities, w^e would buy up every munition factory in the United 
States of America, if in this way we couhl deprive the enemy 
of munitions and our proceeding would not involve a lack of 
logic or mala fides." To show that the proposed plan to pur- 
chase war material was not unknown to the Department of 
State, he quoted from a note of June 12. 

Criticism of the plan "to prevent the export of liquid 
chlorine to the Allies, through buying the output," was unjusti- 
fied "when one bears in mind the fact that the British Govern- 
ment would not supply rubber or wool to a manufacturer save 
on condition that he sells the whole output through a British 
agency, and is prevented from selling to Germany or Austria- 
Hungary" ; that producers of copper "are forced to proceed 
in the same manner with regard to their output," and that 
manufacturers of "preserved provisions equally are forced to 
refuse to supply their goods to neutral countries unless Great 
Britain, through her own agents, allows them to carry out their 
contracts." The moment the German Government tries to get 
control of the output of a single factory, "this perfectly lawful 
proceeding is branded far and wide as a propaganda which 
'entangles the United States in the European war,' and 'in- 
volves a flagrant breach of the spirit and object of the American 
anti-trust law.' " 

"To the false suggestion, based on certain letters, that I, 
or some one else who has relations with the German Govern- 
ment, has taken part in the instigation and forwarding of 
strikes in munition factories, ,1 can only say that such asser- 
tions and insinuations are groundless." 

Nevertheless, such strikes had occurred to an extent never 
known before. During July, August, September and October 
there were one hundred and two strikes and six lockouts of 
machinists employed in munition plants. Fifty of these were 
in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to the report of the 
Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor, to 
its annual convention, attempts had been made by German 
and Austrian agents to buy labor leaders to foment strikes. 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 183 

According to the testimony of a score of men arrested and 
convicted of conspiracy to destroy munition ships and muni- 
tion plants, the representatives of Germany and Austria were 
not guiltless. 

The purchase of ten pounds of picric acid, a chemical used 
in the manufacture of high explosives, led on October 24 to the 
arrest in Jersey City of Robert Fay and Walter Scholz, on 
suspicion of connection with explosions in amnnmition works, 
and of bombs on board steamers carrying supplies to the ene- 
mies of Germany. Fay in a confession claimed he was a lieu- 
tenant in the German army, and, while serving with his regi- 
ment in the Champaigne district, invented so clever a device 
for exploding mines without electrical wiring that he was put 
in touch with the German Secret Service by his colonel and 
sent to the United States. His object in coming was to cut 
off the supply of ammunition to the Allies by attaching to the 
sterns or propellers of ammunition-laden vessels the mines of 
his invention, so timed that they would explode when the 
steamer was in mid-Atlantic. ''Both Captain von Papen and 
Captain Boy-Ed refused to make any use of my device in 
this country." More arrests followed and soon seven men 
were in the hands of the Federal authorities. 

Ambassador von Bernstorff having assured the Department 
of State that Fay had no connection with the German Secret 
Service, nor with the German Government, the Department 
left the matter to be settled by the Courts, and on jSTovember 8, 
Fay, Max Breitung, Walter L. Scholz, Paul Deache, Dr. Her- 
bert Krenzle, and Bronldiorst were duly indicted on two counts. 
The first charged that Fay and his associates devised "a metal 
box containing springs, coils and other mechanisms and loaded 
with dynamite, trinitrotoluol and other explosives" and had 
conspired to attach it to steamships sailing out from New 
York. 

The second charged them with conspiracy to injure persons 
who had underwritten policies of insurance on the vessels they 
sought to destroy. December 13, all save Deache were rear- 
raigned to plead to five new charges. 

Dr. Joseph Goricar, for many years in the Austro-Hun- 
garian consular service, and who resigned in December, 1914, 



184 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

now came forward with specific charges in the Providence 
Journal. The United States, he said, were honeycombed with 
German and Austrian spies, all working directly under 
von Bernstorff and Consul General von Nuber; that every 
Austro-Hungarian consul in the country was a center of propa- 
ganda for the destruction of munition factories, for the crea- 
tion of strikes. The office of von Nuber in New York was the 
center of the plot for securing fraudulent passports under 
which hundreds of German and Austrian reservists had been 
able to return to their colors. 

"The United States," he said, "is not awake to the danger 
which threatens her from the activities of German and Aus- 
trian agents who since the beginning of the war have spent 
$30,000,000 to $40,000,000 in this country in their efforts to 
destroy life and property. 

"I charge that the German Ambassador, knowing that the 
Austrian consulates have far more influence among their 
people here than the German consulates have among theirs, 
has worked through Ambassador Dumba and Consul General 
von Nuber to cause every Austrian consulate in the United 
States to become a center of intrigue of the most criminal 
character." He charged that the Austrian consuls at Cleve- 
land, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. 
Paul were the men on whom von Bernstorft" and von Nuber 
depended "to carry out their infamous work" and that they 
held regular conferences with von Nuber. He charged that 
von Nuber had in his employ "a gang of men who are regu- 
larly subsidizing foreign language newspapers." Many times 
since Dumba's departure von Nuber had been doing the very 
same sort of acts as those which led to Dumba's dismissal. 
"Within the past week von Nuber, at the suggestion of Ambas- 
sador von Bernstorff," Dr. Goricar charged, had ordered his con- 
suls scattered over the country "to close in on the campaign to 
get workers out of munition factories," and to force them out 
was working through the great secret societies and fraternal 
organizations with which the men wei'e connected. 

The consuls accused by Dr. Goricar one and all denied the 
charges and denounced him as a traitor and a renegade; and 
some one in behalf of the Austro-Hungarian Embassy issued 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 185 

a statement. This, too, was almost wholly given up to de- 
nouncing Dr. Goricar, and dismissed his charges with the words 
"the Embassy must emphatically declare these accusations as 
false and absolutely groundless." 

The Journal thereupon began the publication of documen- 
tary evidence in support of its charges. Among these docu- 
ments were facsimiles of letters from the Austrian Consul 
General in N'ew York and the Austrian consul in Philadelphia 
to certain workers in munition factories who had written asking 
the meaning of an advertisement which had appeared in the 
foreign language newspapers. 

"The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Embassy," 
this warning said, acting under orders from the home Govern- 
ment, gave notice to "all Austrians and Hungarians, including 
the men who belong to Bosnia and Herzegovina," that all who 
were making arms or ammunition for the Allies were "commit- 
ting a crime against the military safety of their Fatherland," 
a crime punishable by imprisonment for from ten to twenty 
years, or it might be with death. Against those who violated the 
order "the whole force of the land will be brought in the event 
of their return to their own country." 

So specific were the charges made by Dr. Goricar, so con- 
vincing was the evidence presented by the Journal, that the 
Department of Justice at once began to investigate. Had other 
evidence been needed it might have been found in the startling 
series of explosions and fires which just at this time wrecked 
parts of some of the great munition plants in the East. On 
jSTovember 10, flames consumed a machine shop at the Bethlehem 
Steel Company, destroyed machinery and war material valued 
at $1,000,000 and threw out of employment some 2,100 men. 
That same day a building used for the storage of patterns, be- 
longing to the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Eddystone, was 
burned to the ground. Twenty-four hours later a new wire- 
rope shop belonging to the John A. Roeblings' Sons Company at 
Trenton was totally destroyed by fire. The firm declared they 
had no war orders, but the origin of the fire was as mysterious 
as were those at Bethlehem and Eddystone. 

While the causes of these fires were under investigation, 
the Chief of the Bureau of Investi^ration of the Department of 



LS<i rills UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Justice wjis sent to ('(nifer witli (he editor of tlie Providence 
Journal niul Dr. (Jericnr. On liis return to Wnsliington the 
Depiirtnunit of .lustiee imnouiieed that ^'niueli infonnation of 
a valuabU' iinture was obtaiiu>d eoiieernin*;' ilie activities of 
Austrian Consul (loneral \on Nuhav and his associates, the 
details of which cannot hv discdosinl at pr(\sent. Prompt inves- 
tig'ation, howevei-, will hv made. Infoi'mation Avas also obtained 
which probablv will li'ad to furlher indictments for passj)ort 
frauds." 

A Iveuter dis[)atcli i;ivini;' a summary of the chari:;e8 of 
Dr. Goriear having reached Viemia, Pai-on Pui'ian at once 
instructed the Austrian charge at Washini;ton to mak(> a ''cate- 
gorical and oliicial denial of these invtuitions." 

''According to llcuttM-," so ran the message, "former Austro- 
Hungarian Consul Goriear has made ti)tall_y false statements 
in the Providence Journal about Austi'o-IIungarian and Ger- 
man (>sj>ionage in the United Staters, ^'ou arc authorized to 
make categorical and oliicial denial of thesi> inventions." 

Baron Krich Zwi(>dinek, Austi-ollungarian charge, accord- 
ingly visited the Department o{ State and protested against 
the issuance in the name of the Department of Justice of the 
statement which he claimed tended to coniirm the alleged 
unlawful activities of the Austi'ian cousulai- ollices made by 
Dr. Joseph Cioricar. 

To this tlu' Providence Journal made reply that, in view 
"of the astounding action of P>aron Zwiedinek, the rl ournal now 
feels called u[)on to declare it has placed in the hands of tla^ 
Department of Justice I'onclusive proof not only of the guilt 
of Baron von Nuber and \'ice Cimsul Sauuud Augyal of the 
New York consulate, hut also of Consul General von Grivicio, 
formerly of IMiiladelphia, and 13aron Lother von llanser of the 
Pittsburgh consulate. 

"Furthermore, the Journal has also given to the Depart- 
ment of Justice conclusive proof of the guilt of Baron vmi 
Zwiedinek himself on several occasions since the departure of 
Ambassador Duud)a."' PriH)f (d' the guilt of the Austrian offi- 
cials, the Journal said, "rests ahuost entirely on documents 
over their own signatures, and this is particularly true in the 
case of Baron Zwiediut'k himself. 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OV CKR.MAX OI TICIALS 187 

A rumor having been .set afloat that because of the failure of 
the Department of Justice to get wind of the activities of the 
consuls, and the country-wide phjts to destroy ammunition 
works, the Secret Service force of the Treasury Department 
would take charge of such investigations, the Secretary of the 
Treasury and the Attorney General thought it wise to make a 
joint denial and on November 10 made this statement: 

"In view of the widespread statements to the effect that 
the Secret Service force of the Treasury Department has been 
put in charge of investigation of all bomb plots, ship burnings, 
munition factoi-y explosions and the like, and the determina- 
tion of whether the criminal statutes of the United States have 
l)een violated," they wished to say that the different depart- 
ments of the Government had been and were furnishing each 
other with all information that was useful ; that there was no 
disagreement b(!tween them, and none expected; that it was 
the duty of the liui-eau of Investigation of the Department of 
.Justice to investigate all information indicating vifdations of 
criminal statutes of the United States, conspiracies, passport 
f lauds and violation of interstate coinmerce statutes in(;luded; 
and that the Seci-et Service of the Treasury Department had 
been instructed to turn ovci- to the Bureau for Investigation of 
llie Department of Justice any information acquired by the 
f'oi'itier that w(juld be of use to the latter. 

Whether Fe(leral statutes could be applied to the burning 
of munition plants owned by individuals or coi-porations was 
a doubtful fjucstion, and some suspicion was expressed by 
officials in the Department of Justice that State officials had 
started no pi'osecutions as a i-esult of munition plant fires. It 
was time, h(jwevei-, that the government acted. Actual war- 
fare had been conducted by German and Austrian officials 
against the United States. Guns had not l)een trained on our 
citizens, armies had not been landed on our shores, but the 
torch liad been set to munition plants, bombs had been pre- 
pared to sink ships at sea, plots had been hatched to prevent 
manufactured goods reaching their destination, passports for 
German and Austrian spies had been forged, and strikes 
fomented. Plotters, conspirators, schemers must be ferreted 
out, no mntter who they were. But in punishing plotters 



188 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

against manufacturing plants the Federal Government was 
badly handicapped. If bombs are made in one State and sent 
into another for criminal purposes the Government has juris- 
diction under the interstate commerce act. But when an indus- 
trial plant is set on fire the State has jurisdiction and must act. 

To overcome this difficulty the United States Attorney 
General, on November 20, issued an appeal to local authorities. 

"information," he said, "indicating attacks upon lawful 
American industries and commerce through incendiary fires 
and explosions in factories, threats to intimidate employees 
and other acts of violence, has so often developed during the 
past few months as to demand searching investigations and 
prosecutions." The Department of Justice would continue 
to investigate all such acts, prosecute all violations of Federal 
statutes, and seek indictments under the Federal law forbid- 
ding interstate transportation of explosives, under the Sherman 
law, the law concerning conspiracy to commit an offense 
against, or defraud the United States, and the laws against 
crimes on ships and on the high seas. But Federal criminal 
laws because of our dual form of government were limited 
in their scope. Many could be enforced only where the Gov- 
ernment has special jurisdiction. It was hoped, therefore, 
that the State officials would be active, and whenever evidence 
was found, by the agents of the Department of Justice, that 
State laws had been violated, it would be placed at the service 
of State authorities. 

Prosecutions of such offenders as the Government had been 
able to detect went on, meantime, with vigor. Chief among 
these were Captain von Papen and Captain Boy-Ed. 

Captain Franz von Papen was right in his surmise when 
he wrote his wife, "It seems quite Ijkely that we shall meet 
again soon." A careful investigation of the activities of 
von Papen and Boy-Ed forced the Secretary of State to inform 
Ambassador von Bernstorff on ^November 30 that they were 
"no longer acceptable or personce gratce to this Government," 
and to ask their recall because "of what this Government con- 
siders improper activities in military and naval matters." 

The Providence Journal now asserted, basing its assertion 
"on the highest authority, that the recent Hamburg-American 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 189 

trial had nothing whatever to do" with the demand for the 
recall of the Captains. Captain Boy-Ed was recalled, it said, 
because the Government had positive proof of his connection 
with Stegler and the passport frauds. A mass of letters and 
telegrams showing his direct connection wdth the frauds was 
in the possession of the Government. He was recalled because 
the Government had positive evidence that he had been active 
in the attempt of certain officials of the Hamburg-American 
Company in the spring "to embroil the Government of the 
United States and the British Government by the production 
of false affidavits tending to show that certain tugboat captains 
had been carrying supplies from !New York Harbor to Ger- 
man cruisers. He had been recalled because the Government 
had conclusive proof that the Huerta conspiracy, hatched in 
Barcelona, was carried on through Captains Boy-Ed and 
von Papen and Dr. Dumba. 

Captain von Papen would be recalled because of his con- 
nection with the Huerta plot, the storage of large quantities 
of arms in New York and the discovery among the Archibald 
papers of two cipher dispatches and the manner in which they 
were sent abroad. 

December 10, the German Ambassador formally notified 
the Secretary of State that the Emperor '^had been pleased to 
recall Captain Boy-Ed and Captain von Papen in compliance 
with the wishes of the United States Government"; Decem- 
ber 22, Captain von Papen sailed, and six days later was fol- 
lowed by Captain Karl Boy-Ed. 

When about to sail von Papen handed to representatives of 
the press a written statement. He refrained, he said, at the 
hour of his departure, from again refuting the stories told about 
him in the newspapers, most of which stories, "like the silly 
Huerta tales," were invented by the Providence Journal. This 
paper, with its British-born Mr. Rathom, has done its utmost 
to create an almost hysterical suspicion of spying throughout 
the country in order to prejudice public opinion against 
Germany." 

"Your farewell statement to the American people," said 
the Providence Journal in a long wireless to the Captain, "in 
so far as it relates to the Providence Journal, is a willful and 



]<)() THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

deliberate falsehood. Has the. Providence Journal created a 
hysterical suspicion concerning the destruction of American 
factories, the murder of American workmen, or the daily plots 
against the peace and safety of this Government and its citi- 
zens, almost all of which acts have been fathered and financed 
from your office ? Every word of what the Journal has pub- 
lished with regard to your personal connection with these plots 
has been true, and nobody knows it better than yourself." 

But it was not only in the East that such deeds had been 
done. Agents o£ Germany had been busy on the Pacific coast, 
falsifying manifests to clear ships laden with supplies for 
German cruisers, plotting the destruction of bridges and tun- 
nels in Canada, and hiring men to place bombs on board of 
ships carrying munitions of war. In December, in San Fran- 
cisco, Charles C. Crowley, a detective in the employ of the 
German consulate. Baron George William von Brincken, the 
Vice Consul General, and a woman were indicted for con- 
spiracy to interfere with and destroy commerce with the Allies, 
and use the mails to incite arson, murder and assassination by 
burning certain buildings of munition making firms at ,Ishpe- 
ming, Michigan, and Pinole, California. An affidavit, pub- 
lished in the Providence Journal, set forth that Franz Bopp, 
tlie German Consul General at San Francisco, had employed 
the affiant Koolbergen to blow up tunnels on the Canadian 
Pacific Railway, that Bopp and von Brincken worked out the 
details, and that Koolbergen in collusion with the officials of 
the Canadian Pacific Company caused statements to be pub- 
lished in the newspapers to the effect that they had been 
blown u]i mysteriously. More arrests followed as the plot 
developed until in February, 11)16, thirty-two conspirators 
were indicted by a Federal Grand Jury. 

A telegram from Chicago, December 5, announced that two 
artisans of that city had gone to ISTew York in obedience to a 
subpoena to appear before a Federal Grand Jury and testify 
as to the activities of Labor's ISTational Peace Council. This 
organization, it was said, had taken a part in the warfare 
headed by von Papen and Boy-Ed against nuinition plants, and 
the Department of Justice was seeking indictments against 
Congressman Buchanan of Illinois ; former Congressman Fow- 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 191 

ler of Illinois; the notorious "Wolf of Wall Street," David 
Lamar; Franz von Rintelen, and sundry others. 

"In view," said the United States Attorney at New York, 
"of the puhlicity given in the morning newspapers of to-day 
of the story concerning Labor's N^ational Peace Council, I will 
state that for some time I have had information that this 
organization was financed through money furnished by Franz 
von Rintelen, through David Lamar. A part of the activities 
of Labor's ^National Peace Council consisted in stirring up 
strikes in various plants which engaged in the manufacture of 
war munitions." 

Franz von Rintelen came to our country in April, was 
believed to have financed the so-called "peace meeting" held 
in June in New York, the meeting addressed by Mr. Bryan, 
and on his way to Germany in August under the protection of 
a passport, obtained by fraud, was stopped at Falmouth by 
the British and lodged in the Tower of London. Labor's [Na- 
tional Peace Council was formed late in June by the promoters 
of the "peace meeting" at New York. Its President for a 
few weeks was Congressman Buchanan. H. Robert Fowler 
was its general counsel, and Frank S. Monnett, one time Attor- 
ney General of Ohio, was Chairman of a Committee. These 
men, with Henry B. Martin, Secretary, Henry Schulteis, David 
Lamar, and Franz von Rintelen, were duly indicted on De- 
cember 28, 1915. 

The defendants, it was charged, had "conspired together to 
restrain our foreign commerce in munitions of war," rifles, 
vehicles of transportation, building material, articles of many 
sorts useful in war on land and sea; had conspired to insti- 
gate strikes and walkouts in munition factories, and in places 
where such material was shipped; and by bribing and dis- 
tributing money among labor officials, tried to induce them to 
use their influence to cause employees to drop their work. 

Eft'orts were now made to secure the support of organized 
labor, on their behalf, and on December 30 a statement was 
issued warning laboring men of the "great danger which awaits 
their future struggles for economic liberty and justice should 
a precedent be established by the courts in upholding a prose- 
cution and conviction under such a construction of this stat- 



192 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAE 

ute as is now proposed l\v the U,nited States Attorney Marshal." 
These and many other acts of treachery hy aliens and dis- 
loyal citizens of alien birth were so serious and menacing that 
President Wilson on two occasions had denounced the hyphen- 
ates roundly. The first occasion was on the evening of Novem- 
ber 4 at a banquet given by the Manhattan Club in I^ew York 
City. 

The only thine: within our borders that has given us grave con- 
cern in recent months has been that voices have been raised in Amer- 
ica professing to be the voices of Americans which were not in deed 
and in truth American but which spoke alien sympathies, which 
came from men who loved other countries better than they love 
America, men who were partisans of other causes than that of Amer- 
ica, and had forgotten that their chief and only allegiance was to 
the great government under which they live. 

These voices have not been many, but they have been very 
clamorous. They have proceeded from a few who were bitter and 
who were grievously misled [They were] the spokesmen of small 
groups whom it is high time that the nation should call to a reck- 
oning. 

A month now passed away and on December 7 the President 
made his annual address to Congress. During that month fires 
had destroyed shops of the Bethlehem Steel Company, of the 
Baldwin Locomotive Works, at Eddy stone, and of the Roebling 
Wire Works at Trenton; Goricar had made known the plots 
of the Austrian Consuls to destroy ships and cripple munition 
works, and the Attorney General of the United States had ap- 
pealed to the State authorities to aid him in prosecuting the 
plotters ever;)^vhere. 

In his annual address to Congress at the opening of its ses- 
sion the President, therefore, again denounced the hyphenates 
and asked for means to restrain their activities. 

I am sorry to say that the gravest threats against our national 
peace and safety have been uttered within our own borders. There 
are citizens of the United States, I blush to admit, born luider other 
flags, but welcomed under our generous naturalization laws to the 
full freedom and opportunity of America, who have poured the poison 
of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life; who have 
sought to bring the authority and good name of our Goverimient 
into contempt, to destroy our industries wherever they thought it 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 193 

effective for their vindictive purposes to strike at them and to debase 
our politics to the uses of foreign intrigue. Their number is not as 
great as compared with the whole number of those sturdy hosts by 
which our nation has been enriched in recent generations out of virile 
foreign stocks; but is great enough to have brought deep disgrace 
upon us and to have made it necessary that we should promptly make 
use of processes of law by which we may be purged of their corrupt 
distempers. 

America never witnessed anything like this before. It never 
dreamed it possible that men sworn into its own citizenship . . . 
would ever turn in malign reaction against the Government and peo- 
ple who had welcomed and nurtured them and seek to make this proud 
country once more a hotbed of European passion. 

A little while ago such a thing would have seemed incredible. Be- 
cause it was incredible we made no preparation for it. . . . But the 
ugly and incredible thing has actually come about and we are with- 
out adequate Federal laws to deal with it. 

I urge you to enact such laws at the earliest possible moment and 
feel that in doing so I am urging you to do nothing less than save the 
honor and self-respect of the nation. Such creatures of passion, 
disloyalty and anarchy must be crushed out. They are not many, 
but they are infinitely malignant, and the hand of our power should 
close over them at once. They have formed plots to destroy prop- 
erty ; they have entered into conspiracies against the neutrality of the 
Government; they have sought to pry into every confidential transac- 
tion of the Government in order to serve interests alien to our 
own. . . . 

I wish that it could be said that only a few men, misled by mis- 
taken sentiments of allegiance to the governments under which they 
were born, had been guilty of disturbing the self-possession and 
misrepresenting the temper and principles of the country during 
these days of terrible war. . . . But it cannot. There are some men 
among us, and many resident abroad who, though born and bred in 
the United States and calling themselves Americans, have so for- 
gotten themselves and their honor as citizens as to put their passionate 
sympathy with one or the other side in the great European conflict 
above their regard for the peace and dignity of the United States. 
They also preach arid practice disloyalty. 

These charges met with a quick response from those con- 
cerned. In the House a resolution was carried calling on the 
President to furnish the names and former allegiance of per- 
sons involved in alleged criminal and otherwise unneutral plots 
together with specific information regarding such plots. The 
Committee on Judiciary reported the resolution adversely. The 



19 i THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Attorney General by a second resolution was then called on to 
furnish the names and former allegiance of persons involved 
in alleged criminal plots, lie sent a list of names of 71 per- 
sons and four corporations ; but the Judiciary Connnittee again 
reported adversely. 

A week later the directors of the Northeastern Saenger- 
bund, happening to hold their meeting at Baltimore, took oc- 
casion to express their sentiments towards th(> President and 
certain measures then pending in Congress. Whereas, they 
said, the President having by "innuendo in his message" of De- 
cember, 1915, "accused American citizens of German birth of 
being traitors to their adopted country," and the Attorney Gen- 
eral in response to a call by the House "for a probe of these al- 
legations" having "submitted a list of the persons arrested or 
charged with oifenses against the laws of the United States" 
referred to by the President, and there appearing in the list 
the names of but three or four American citizens of German 
birth, therefore it was resolved that, as American citizens, they 
protest against the charges of the President in his message 
as an attack upon and ;in insult to "a large and loyal part of the 
citizenship of the ITnitod States." The "attack and charges" 
Avere "made upon insufficicnit information without cause, and, as 
shown by the Attorney General's rep(U-t had no foundation in 
fact." 

The directors therefore recoimuendcd the members of the 
Saengerbund to oppose the renomination and re-election of 
Woodrow Wilson as President of the United States, and en- 
dorsed and urged all members to endorse the bills to prohibit 
the sale and export of arms; prohibit the issue of passports for 
nse on vessels of a belligerent country; prohibit vessels from 
carrying American citizens as passengers and contraband of 
war at the same time; and the bill to authorize the President 
to forbid any national banking association to make a loan to any 
of the signatory Powers to the Declaration of London wdiich 
shall be found to be obstructing the neutral commerce of the 
United States. 

To a mass meeting of Hungarians held at New York City 
about the same time to take action on the President's remarks 
he sent a message through a personal representative. 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 195 

Jn good time the speech of the President reached Berlin, 
alarmed the Imperial Government by the vigor of the attack on 
German-American plotters and drew forth a disavowal of the 
acts of its agents and a plea that Germany had been misunder- 
stood. No official note or memorandum was sent to Washing- 
ton, but the Berlin correspondent of the New York Times was 
authorized to make a long statement which he sent by wireless 
<m December 29. "1 aiu authorized," said the correspondent, 
Mr. Garrett, "to make the following statcniient" : 

The German Government, naturally, has never knowingly 
accepted the support t)f any person, group of persons, society 
or organization seeking to promote the cause of Germany in the 
United States by illegal acts, by counsels of violence, by con- 
travention of law, or by any means whatever that could offend 
the American people in the pride of their own authority. If it 
should be alleged that improper acts have been committed by 
representatives of the German Government they could easily be 
dealt with. To any complaints, upon such proofs as may be 
submitted by the American Government, suitable response will 
be duly made. 

As is well known, the means of conutiunication between 
Germany and the United States are very unsatisfactory. It is 
practically impossible for the German Government to keep it- 
self in touch with the American sentiment. It has often to de- 
pend upon the Foreign Press for information concerning 
American affairs. The Message of President Wilson to the 
Congress, in which the activities of German sympathizers in 
the United States were discussed, will serve as an illustrati(m. 

A brief summary of this Message which was received in Ger- 
many referred to riots and conspiracies against peace and or- 
der in the United States, and the effect produced thereby on the 
public sentiment in Germany was probably more painful than 
the American Government knew. A different impression might 
have been produced by the full text of the Message, but, un- 
fortunately, that was not available in Germany until the Ameri- 
can newspapers arrived in Germany by mail a fortnight or three 
weeks later, except such portions as might be taken, with doubt 
and reservations, from the English Press. 

In the meantime confidential communications between the 



196 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

German Government and its diplomatic representatives in the 
United States, by wireless or cable, are impossible for reasons 
which the American Government knows. 

Apparently the enemies of Germany have succeeded in giv- 
ing the impression that the German Government is in some way, 
]\Ir. Garrett continued, responsible for what Mr. Wilson has 
characterized as anti-American activities, comprising attacks on 
property and the violation of the rules which the American 
Government has seen fit to impose on the course of neutral 
trade. This the German Government absolutely denies. It 
cannot specifically repudiate acts committed by individuals over 
whom it has no control, and of whose movements and actions it 
is neither officially nor unofficially informed. It can only say 
it does most emphatically declare to Germans abroad, to the 
United States and to the American people all alike, that who- 
ever is guilty of conduct tending to associate the German cause 
with lawlessness in thought, suggestion, or deed against the 
life, property, and order in the United States is, in fact, an 
enemy of that very cause, and a source of embarrassment to the 
German Government, nothwithstanding anything he or they 
may believe to the . contrary. 

It happens regularly that Press messages from Germany are 
taken from the air by the English and are reproduced as rep- 
resenting the official German point of view, the assumption be- 
ing that the German censor will only pass such things as the 
German Government wishes the world to believe. Finally, ow- 
ing to these conditions, all German expression of opinion falls 
under an awkward restraint. Jf the German Government could 
speak, and alone, to the American Government, out of the hear- 
ing of the rest of the world, and if it could communicate con- 
fidentially with its diplomatic representatives in the United 
States, much misconception, Mr. Garrett was sure, could be 
avoided. By the use of wireless, it is true, the German Govern- 
ment may communicate with its Ambassador in Washington in 
a private code known only to the American Government; but, 
as all other Governments may communicate by cable in an ab- 
solutely secret code, the German Government feels that to be 
alone deprived of this same privilege, and to be required, as 
no other Government is, to correspond with its representatives 



TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 197 

in a code open to the American Government, is an unfair dis- 
crimination. This, therefore, is an obstacle that combines both 
fact and feeling, and if one adds thereto the misfortune that the 
German Government thinks it has reason to distrust the neu- 
trality of the United States, it will be seen how serious it is. We 
need not inquire whether the German Government is justified 
in regarding American neutrality with reservation. The doubt 
exists, and hinders every approach to an understanding. 

The reason for denying the German Government the privi- 
lege of using a secret code by wireless was, in the beginning, 
that it might communicate in this way with its ships at sea, 
but the German Government thinks that if this reason were ever 
valid it has ceased to exist, since there are no more German 
ships upon the seas. 



(Ml Arri'K viii 



siNKiMf wii'imrr wakninu 



Thk ln\jHM-ijil (JtM'uum (M>v»'rMU\oi\t lmvii\i;" iuiiiiiiu'd into 
tlu> I'iiTiuustjimTs i>t" tlu> siiikliii; i>t' tlu> Arahir. iu»»l Imviui;' ol>- 
taiiu'il i\ rt^piM-t t'rom the romui:iiuI«M- o( (he sul'iniirmo Irom 
wliii'h \\w toipotlo was llrtul. Ainbassiiilor von l?tMust»>rl1 dc 
livtM-tnl li> tin' S(H'ft>tatv of Stato a note in whii-li (it'iiiianv ic 
t"uso(l "t*> arlviii'w Kvl;;f aiiv oMii;!!! ion of jviant anv iiultMiinitv in 
tlu' matter." 

On Ani;nst l!', l!'l.">, it said, a (lOiinan s\il»inanin' stoppril 
iho iM-itisli lii\<M- Ihinalei/ abont sixtotMi niilos siuitli of Kinsalo. 
and was abont ti> sink luM' hy i;iMi liiH^ wluni tlio coininandcr lu* 
hold a lari;v stoaniship niakin;;,- towards him. This stoamor, tho 
Artlhic, was riH'on'ni'od as an onomv vosstd hocanso sho did not 
tlv an\ tlai'- and had no no\itral niaikini's. "Whon siu" aj) 
l)r(>a('lu>d slu' altoi't'd hor ofii;inal rtMirso, hnt then ai;ain pointed 
dii-ootly towards tlu« snhmariiK'." Suit thai tlu* Arnhir "had 
tho ii\tontion ot' attaokinj;- and lamniiiii;- him," llu^ conunandor 
pivo tho ordor "to divo and tiii'd a torpedo at. the steamship." 

"'rht> (u'rnum ({o\«Mnment most deepiv re^ci'ts that lives 
wiM-t> lost," and "p;ii-t ienlariv expi'osses this r(><;-rel to the 
(Jovornmtmt oi' the I'nited States on aeeonnt ol" |Im> death iA' 
.Vmeriean eiti/ens." l>nt "tlie (lermnn (uwernment is unahle, 
how(>vtM-. to aeknow ledi:,t> any i>l>lii:,at ion to i;rant indemnily in 
the matt(M-, even if the e«>mmander should have h(>en mistakiMi 
as to the auuressive intentions oi' the Anihir." Should the two 
OovernmtMJts lind it iinpossihh* "to reaeh a harmonious opinion 
on tliis point" the tJerman (u>\'ernment was ready "to sid)init. 
tho ditTeri>ni'e of opinitm, as heit^j;- a tpu>stion iA' internatiojial 
law, to Tho llaiiue trihimal." In doinj;- vso, tho (u>rman (un'orn- 
ment assumtHl "that, as a matter o\' c«nirs<>, the arhitral divi- 
sion shall not he admitted to have the imjH>Ttaneo of a general 

11)8 



SINKING WJ'iilOL'T WARNING 199 

decision on the permJH.sibility of, or the eojjverse, undw in- 
ternationaJ law, of German submarine warfare." 

Thus was the hope that tlie commander of the submarine 
would be (lisciplined and his act <lisavowed, dispdled. But 
the German Ambassador after conference's with the Secjretary 
of State declared in an interview that \i(t was sure all differ- 
ences would soon Ixi adjusted. "Ordinaj-ily," he said, "i i^'ivn 
only prepared interviews over my signature. T'>-day I shall 
make an exception. You may say for me that I am sure tliat 
within a fortnijrht all supp<jsed difficulties between the United 
States and Germany will have been settled and pei-manently set- 
tled, and the nations will be more friendly than they ever have 
been." 

A Berlin newspaper, the National GazeUe, remarked that 
"for the moment it d'Xfs not seem to have been recognized with 
sufficient clearness in America that Count von Jjernstorflf's 
principal statement and the Arabic note are two t<jtally differ- 
ent expressions of intention on the part of the German Govern- 
ment and only superficially connected." 

The destruction of the Arabic was "in no sense a diminish- 
ing of assurances given shortly before in Washington, and 
which were hailed with livdy satisfaction in America, show- 
ing the wish of the overwhelming majority of the American 
people to maintain peace l>etween Germany and Araerica. 
There can be no talk about Germany having broken her word 
to the United States, or of trying to liberate herself from a 
given promise." 

The Imperial Government having denied responsibility for 
indemnity in the case of the Arabic nov/ returned to that of the 
Frye; and to the manner of fixing the damages. It proposed to 
do away with an umpire, settle the damages by means of two ex- 
perts, and name its own expert, agreed U) separate the question 
of indemnity from that of interpretation of the Prussian treaties 
of 1799 and 1828, and to refer this dispute to The Hague Tri- 
bunaL 

To the question, whether in the meantime, Germany would 
govern her submarine operations according to the American or 
the German interpretation, the answer was, that "it is not pre- 
vented, in its opinion, from prf>c^jeding against American ships 



200 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

conveying contraband, according to its interpretation, until the 
question is settled by arbitration." N'evertheless, as evidence 
of its "conciliatory attitude" the German Government had or- 
dered its naval forces "not to destroy American merchantmen 
which have loaded conditional contraband," but allow "them to 
continue their voyage unhindered, if it is not possible to take 
them into port." But it reserved "the right to destroy vessels 
carrying absolute contraband" whenever allowable under the 
Declaration of London. 

In its note on the Arabic the German Government had de- 
clared itself unable "to acknowledge any obligation to grant 
indemnity in the matter even if the commander should have 
been mistaken as to the aggressive intentions of the Arabic." 
From this position the Imperial Government now retreated and 
on October 5, Count von Bernstorff informed Secretary Lansing 
that, prompted by a desire to reach a satisfactory agreement 
with respect to the Arahic incident, his Government had in- 
structed him to say His Imperial Majesty had issued such 
stringent orders "that the recurrence of incidents similar to the 
Arahic case is considered out of the question. 

"According to the report of Commander Schneider of the 
submarine which sank the Arabic and his affidavit as well as 
those of his men. Commander Schneider was convinced that 
the Arabic intended to ram the submarine. 

"On the other hand, the Imperial Government does not 
doubt the good faith of the affidavits of the British officers of 
the Arabic, according to which the Arabic did not intend to 
ram the submarine. The attack of the submarine, therefore, 
was undertaken against the instructions issued to the com- 
mander. The Imperial Government regrets and disavows this 
act, and has notified Commander Schneider accordingly," and 
would pay indemnity for the lives of Americans lost on the 
Arabic. 

Before the month ended, Germany, in a note explaining 
the attack on the Orduna, renewed her pledge that large pas- 
senger steamers were "only to be torpedoed after previous warn- 
ing and after the rescuing of passengers and crew." 

At about a quarter past seven on the morning of July 3, 
said the note, a German submarine sighted a steamer some 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 201 

five miles away and a sailing vessel a mile distant. The steamer 
showing no flag or neutral markings, was taken to be an enemy 
ship and the submarine submerged and fired a torpedo which 
missed its mark. Thereupon the submarine rose to the surface 
and gave chase, firing shells which did no harm as the sub- 
marine was pitching about and the distance great. 

"The first attack on the Orduna was not in accordance with 
the existing instructions which provide that large passenger 
steamships are only to be torpedoed after previous warning and 
after the rescuing of passengers and crew. The failure to ob- 
serve the instructions was based on an error, which is at any 
rate comprehensible, and the repetition of which appears to be 
out of the question, in view of the more explicit instructions is- 
sued in the meantime." 

The surrender of Germany seemed to be complete, and was 
generally attributed to the good work done by Ambassador von 
Bernstorfi^. The triumph of American diplomacy seemed to be 
a notable one, for it had forced an arrogant nation to abandon 
its campaign of maritime frightfulness and acknowledge the 
principles of humanity it had hitherto defiantly and wantonly 
outraged. But the triumph was not to endure. From sources 
good and reliable it appeared that Great Britain had captured 
forty-four German submarines and had sunk some twenty-six 
others. Alarmed at her losses Germany found it expedient to 
suspend her campaign of frightfulness not only until her losses 
had been made good, but until her fieet of submarines had been 
greatly increased. Meantime, to avert a break with the United 
States at that time, the Imperial Government adopted a policy 
it did not intend long to pursue. 

Confining its operations in the North Sea and the Channel 
to raids, the German Admiralty now sent submarines to the 
Mediterranean Sea to prey on transports carrying troops to 
Salonika and Egypt, while Austria, which as yet had done lit- 
tle with her submarines, turned them loose on neutrals as well 
as enemy merchantmen. 

Austria had made no promises not to sink ships without 
warning, or to provide for the safety of passengers and crew. 
In frightfulness, therefore, she soon equaled her ally and 
quickly brought on a crisis in her relations with us. 



202 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

On JSTovembcr 7, as tlie Italian liner A^icona, with 400 pas- 
eeugcrs and a crew of 170, was on her way from ^lessina to 
New York she was torpedoed oil' Cape Oarbona by a large suh- 
tnarine flying the Austrian flag. About midday, according to 
the account first received from Ferryville, Tunis, the Anrona 
perceived two submarines which, because of the thick fog, the 
sound of her whistle and her reduced speed, were able to ap- 
proach her unjierceived. Ivescued passengers declared that 
when first seen both submarines were Hying the German ilag 
which was quickly lowered and replaced by that of Austria- 
Hungary. 

The Ancona attempted to escape but was fired upon and 
hit, whereupon the captain ordered the boats lowered and just 
as the eighth touched the water the Ancona pitched forward 
and sank bows first, carrying down with her over two hundred 
human beings, many of whom were killetl by gunfire after 
the torpedo struck. Of twelve Americans aboard nine lost their 
lives. 

A telegram from Rome announced that "a submarine ap- 
proached the AncoTia towards noon, and as soon as the steamer 
saw it, an attempt was made to escape at full speed. The An- 
cona was overtaken and stopped. Then the submarine fired on 
the Ancona, sinking her amid the desperate erics of the pas- 
sengers. The life boats were next attacked, the submarine like- 
wise firing on them." 

On ^November 14, 1915, the Italian Government addressed 
a circular note to neutral governments giving its version of the 
attack. The submarine, it charged, fired on the Ancona without 
warning; fired at the wireless apparatus, at the sides and decks 
and "even at the boats in which the terrorized passengers were 
seeking refuge." Some who fell into the sea and approached 
the submarine "were driven oif with jeers." 

That same day the Austro-IIungarian Admiralty Office 
made a statement without waiting for the Foreign Office to 
act. "The submarine," it said, "fired one shot in front of the 
Ancona s prow, whereupon the steamer fled at full speed, in 
accordance with the order issued by the Italian authorities, 
which instructs ships' commanders to flee or sink the sub- 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 203 

marine," was pursued and stopped only aft(;r boing hit several 
times. 

"The submarine allowed 45 minutes for the passengers and 
crew to abandon the steamer, on board of which panic reigned, 
but only a small number of boats were lowered and these were 
occupied principally by the crew. 

"A gi-eat number of boats, probably sufficient to save all 
the passengers, remained unoccupied. 

"After a period of fifty minutes, and as another steamer 
was approaching, the submarine submerged and torpedoed the 
Ancona which sank after an additional 45 minutes. 

"If any of the passengers lost their lives, this was due to 
the fault of the crew, because the steamer tried to escape after 
it had received orders to stop and then the crew only saved 
themselves and not the passengers. 

"Reports published in the foreign press that the submarine 
fired on the Ancona's life boats are mendacious inventions. 
When the steamer stopped the submarine ceased firing." 

As soon as the text of the Austrian Admiralty's statement 
was received all doubt as to the nationality of the submarine 
was removed. Rumors that it was really a German vessel were 
set at rest, and the Secretary was free to call Austria to account. 
Our Ambassador at Vienna was therefore furnishe/1 with a 
copy of the Italian note, and instructed to ask whether or not 
the Ancona was properly warned and if so how the warning 
was given. Whether or not the Ancona tried to escape, after 
warning shots were fired, and how long the firing continued. 
Whether or not any shots were fired after the Ancomj, settled, and 
if, as the Italian note asserted, the life boats were shelled while 
passengers were entering them or after the boats were in the 
water. And finally whether or not any efforts were made by 
the submarine commander to save the lives of the noncom- 
batants, and if not, then why not. 

The cable to Mr. Penficld, our Ambassador at Vienna, was 
passed by one from him embodying the text of a communica- 
tion from the Austrian Foreign Office. This official statement 
differed in no respect from that issued by the Admiralty. 

After patiently waiting three weeks for a note from Austria 
and receiving none the Secretary of State, on December 6, made 



204 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

a demand for disavowal and reparation. Reliable information 
furnished by American and other survivors, passengers on the 
' Ancona, shows, he said, that on ISTovember 7, a submarine fly- 
ing the Austro-Hungarian flag fired a solid shot towards the 
Ancona, that she attempted to escape, was chased, overhauled 
and stopped, and that after a brief period, before all the crew 
and passengers could take to the boats, a number of shells were 
fired at her, and she was finally torpedoed and sunk while many 
persons were still aboard, and that by gunfire and foundering 
American citizens lost their lives. 

The Austro-Hungarian Government had been advised, 
through the correspondence between the United States and Ger- 
many, of the attitude of the United States "as to the use of sub- 
marines in attacking vessels of commerce, and of the acqui- 
escence of Germany in that attitude; yet, with full knowledge 
on the part of the Austro-Hungarian Government of the views 
of the United States as expressed in no uncertain terms to the 
Ally of Austria-Hungary," the commander of the submarine 
had sunk the Ancona. The Government of the United States 
considered that he violated the principles of international law 
and humanity by shelling and torpedoing her before those on 
board had been placed in safety. His conduct could "only be 
characterized as wanton slaughter of defenseless noncom- 
batants." As good relations must rest on a common regard for 
the laws of nations and humanity the Government of the United 
States could not "be expected to do otherwise than to (Jeniand 
that the Imperial and Royal Government denounce the sink- 
ing of the Ancona as an illegal and indefensible act ; that the 
officer who perpetrated the deed be punished, and that repara- 
tion be made for American citizens killed or injured by the 
attack." 

The Government of the United States expected Austria to 
"accede to its demand promptly, and it rests this expectation on 
the belief that the Austro-Hungarian Government will not sanc- 
tion or defend an act which is condemned by the world as in- 
human and barbarous, which is abhorrent to all civilized na- 
tions, and which has caused the death of innocent American 
citizens." 

That a rupture of diplomatic relations would follow was 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 205 

thought more than likely. In diplomacy, it was said, the word 
"demand" is a strong one, and has been twice used. In none of 
the notes hitherto addressed to any of the belligerent powers has 
language so direct and menacing appeared. The note had much 
the character of an ultimatum. Austria must now either accept 
or reject what is demanded. Which will she do ? 

One London newspaper referred to the note as "stern, un- 
compromising." Another, alluding to the mildness of the 
Lusitania note, thought that to Austria "would have been more 
impressive had it been addressed to the Power capable of in- 
juring the United States instead of to its ally, from which the 
United States has nothing to fear." A third remarked that the 
President's description of the outrage and his demand were 
"perfectly justified; but would not both have been even more 
justified in the Lusitania case? However, one may congratu- 
late the President on his novel vigor." 

Keports from abroad set forth that the note had given great 
offense to the Austro-Hungarian Government, that it had 
aroused intense anger, and that diplomatic relations were soon 
to be broken; that Berlin was seeking to persuade Vienna to 
adjust the difficulty and that a high personage had left Berlin 
for Vienna "to assist in making the Austrians see the light." 

As yet the Austro-Hungarian Government did not see the 
light, but still sitting in darkness replied December 15, 1915, 
that "the sharpness with which the Government of the United 
States considers it necessary to blame the commanding officer 
of the submarine concerned in the affair, and the firmness with 
which the demands addressed to the Imperial and Eoyal Govern- 
ment appear to be expressed, might well have warranted the 
expectation that the Government of the United States should 
precisely specify the actual circumstances of the affair upon 
which it bases its case. 

"As it is not difficult to perceive, the presentation of the 
facts in the case in the aforesaid note leaves room for many 
doubts." But even if the presentation were correct in every 
respect, it did not "warrant attaching blame to the commanding 
officer of the war vessel, or to the Imperial and Royal Govern- 
ment." 

"The Government of the United States has also failed to 



206 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

designate the persons upon whose testimony it relies and to 
whom it apparently believes it may attribute a higher degree 
of credibility than to the commander of the Imperial and 
Royal fleet. The note also fails to give any information whatso- 
ever as to the number, names, and more precise fate of the 
American citizens who were on board of the said steamer at the 
critical moment. 

'^However, in view of the fact that the Washington Cabinet 
has now made a positive statement to the effect that citizens of 
the United States of America came to grief in the incident in 
question, the (Imperial and Royal Government is in principle 
ready to enter into an exchange of views." 

It must however ^'raise the question why" the United 
States failed to give reasons for its demands in "reference to 
the special circumstances of the incriminating events upon 
which it lays stress, and why, in lieu thereof, it referred to an 
exchange of correspondence which it has conducted with an- 
other Government in other cases. The Imperial and Royal 
Government is the less able to follow the Washington Cabinet 
on this unusual path, since it by no means possesses authentic 
knowledge of all the pertinent correspondence of the United 
States nor is it of the opinion that such knowledge might be 
sufficient for it in the present case, which, so far as it is in- 
formed, is in essential points of another nature than the case 
or cases to which the Government of the United States seems 
to allude. The Imperial and Royal Government may, there- 
fore, leave it to the Washington Cabinet to formulate the par- 
ticular points of law against which the commanding officer of 
the submarine is alleged to have offended on the occasion of 
the sinking of the Anco7ia. 

"The Government of the United States has also seen fit to 
refer to the attitude which the Berlin Cabinet assumed in the 
above mentioned correspondence. The Imperial and Royal 
Government find in the much esteemed note no indication what- 
ever of the intent with which this reference was made." If, 
however, the United States "intended to express an opinion" 
that a precedent was thereby created for the guidance of the 
Imperial and Royal Government in its "judicial consideration 
of the affair in question, this Government must, in order to 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 207 

preclude possible misunderstandings, declare that as a matter 
of course it reserves to itself full freedom of maintaining its 
own legal views in the discussion of the case of the Ancona/' 

Secretary Lansing in his "esteemed note" demanded that 
the Imperial and Royal Government denounce the sinking 
of the A7ico7ia as an illegal and indefensible act; that the 
commander of the submarine be punished ; and that an indem- 
nity be paid for the citizens of the United States who were 
killed or injured. !Not one of them was answered. 

Baron Burian, said the Neue Freie Presse, a Vienna 
journal, "has answered the uncouth note of the United States 
with careful reserve. The White House at AVashington is not 
yet the Supreme Court of the whole world and its diction is 
not yet the verdict good for all time. The burden of proof 
rests upon the accuser. We await the proofs." 

In Berlin the note was hailed with delight. "Something," 
the Gazette was sure, "has happened, only we don't exactly know 
what. At all events, in a very polite form the Austrian Foreign 
Office gives a receipt for Washington's Very esteemed note.' 
The contents of the answer can be briefly summarized as 'What's 
all the noise about.' " The Kreuz Zeitung was much pleased 
at "the delicious way" in which xVustria had imparted some 
elementary lessons in diplomatic procedure and wondered if 
the President and Secretary of State would "accept their de- 
feat or sever diplomatic relations." The Neueste Nachricliten 
of Munich, thought that the dignified and business like tone of 
the answer offered a pleasant contrast "to the weakness of the 
reasoning on which Washington based its demands. The 
American Government in drafting its demands left itself un- 
covered at many points, but the diplomatic armor of the Aus- 
trian representative has not a weak spot." 

The London press ridiculed the note as a careful evasion of 
the demands of the LTnited States, an insult to American intel- 
ligence, "more or less veiled in diplomatic phraseology." "Aus- 
tria's insolent reply to U. S. A." was a headline in one news- 
paper. Another pointed out "the extraordinary insolence of the 
Austrian reply," and was sure the note "could not have been 
sent without Germany's approval for nobody seriously doubts 



208 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

that in this campaign, as in all the rest of her policy, Austria 
is the subservient tool of her ally." 

From the Washington headquarters of Labor's ^National 
Peace Council, whose activities were then under investigation 
by a Grand Jury at l^ew York, came an attack on the Adminis- 
tration for its reported action in the Ancona case. The Council 
was "sternly opposed to any action on the part of the Ad- 
ministration which in secrecy leads or tends to lead this country 
up to the very verge of war with any country, and insists that 
no action should be taken by the State Department tending 
to break off diplomatic relations with any nation without the 
full knowledge and consent of Congress." That body, it said, 
"alone has the power to declare war, and any action on the part 
of the executive which involves the country in war or makes 
war inevitable is not only an invasion of the rights of Con- 
gress, but of the whole people of this country, and a direct viola- 
tion of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States." 

As soon as possible, on December 19, Mr. Lansing answered 
the Austrian note. On ^November 15, he said. Baron Zwie- 
dinek, the Austrian charge d'Ajf aires, transmitted a report of 
the Austro-Hungarian Admiralty on the sinking of the Ancona. 
In this report it was admitted that the Ancona was torpedoed 
after her engines had stopped and while passengers were still 
on board. This admission was sufficient to fix, on the com- 
mander of the submarine, "the responsibility for having will- 
fully violated the recognized laws of nations, and entirely dis- 
regarded those humane principles which every belligerent should 
observe in the conduct of war at sea. In view of these ad- 
mitted circumstances the Government of the United States feels 
justified in holding that the details of the sinking of the 
Ancona, the weight and character of the additional testimony 
corroborating the Admiralty's report, and the number of 
Americans killed or injured are in no way essential matters of 
discussion." 

The rules of international law and the principles of hu- 
manity "thus willfully violated," were so manifest, and "so long 
and so universally recognized," that the Government of the 
United States "does not feel called upon to deba-te them," nor 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 209 

did it understand that the Imperial and Eojal Government dis- 
puted them. 

"The Government of the United States therefore finds no 
other course open to it, but to hold the Imperial and Royal 
Government responsible for the act of its naval commander 
and to renew the definite but respectful demands made in its 
communication of the sixth of December." 

And now the Imperial and Royal Government in its turn 
surrendered and in a note of December 29 agreed "with the 
Washington Cabinet that even in war the sacred demands of 
humanity must be complied with ;" agreed "that hostile private 
ships, in so far as they do not flee or offer resistance, may not 
be destroyed without the persons on board having been placed 
in safety;" announced that "the officer has been punished in 
accordance with the rules in force in this matter, for exceed- 
ing his instructions," and promised such indemnity as the 
American citizens concerned were entitled to receive. 

Much the greater part of the note, which was very long, 
was devoted to an elaborate and detailed account of the sink- 
ing. From the facts thus related Baron Burian claimed that 
"the information reaching the American Government that a 
solid shot was immediately fired towards the steamer," was in- 
correct ; that she was not overhauled by pursuit ; that shells 
were not fired at her after she had stopped, and that an un- 
usually long time, forty-five minutes, was given to enable the 
passengers to take to the boats ; and that after she was torpedoed 
another period of forty-five minutes elapsed before she quietly 
sank. 

iN'evertheless, the Imperial and Royal naval authorities had 
decided that the commander "had failed to take into due con- 
sideration the panic of the passengers, and the spirit of the rule 
of the Royal and |Imperial Navy that officers must never refuse 
to help any one in distress, not even an enemy." The officer 
therefore had been punished for exceeding his instructions. 

Investigation into the cause of the sinking of the Ancona 
"as a matter of course" could not determine "to what degree 
American citizens are entitled to a claim for indemnity." Aus- 
tria could not be held responsible for injuries due to the "justi- 
fied firing on the fleeing ship," nor for those caused by the cap- 



210 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

sizing of the boats after they reached the water. The Im- 
perial and Royal Government assumed that the Washington 
Cabinet was able and willing to supply information of the cir- 
cumstances under which American citizens were injured. 
Should these circumstances be unknown because of lack of 
proper material evidence, the Imperial and Royal Government 
as a manifestation of its "friendly sentiments" would "overlook 
this gap" and extend the indemnity also to those injuries the 
direct cause of which could not be ascertained. 

The text of the note was made public in our country on New 
Year's Day, 1916, and was read with great satisfaction. 

The threatened break with Austria-Hungary, it was said, 
has been averted by the full compliance of the dual monarchy 
with the demands of the United States. Not only are the im- 
portant points of the demand squarely met, but indemnity is 
promised and assurance is given that no more ships will be sunk 
unless they flee or offer resistance. This is more far reaching 
and satisfactory than the assurance from Germany. She only 
pledged herself not to sink "liners" until the passengers were 
in the boats. We can now face the new year with renewed pride 
in our Government because of this great diplomatic success com- 
ing as a fitting climax to a year of real diplomatic achievements. 

These high hopes were quickly dashed for, on January 2, 
the newspapers announced that the Persia had been sunk in 
the eastern Mediterranean by a submarine, that of 550 passen- 
gers and crew but 158 survived, and that among those drowned 
was the newly appointed American consul on his way to his 
post at Aden, Arabia. 

Coming so soon after positive assurance from the Austro- 
Hungarian Government that private ships, if they did not re- 
sist or flee, would not be torpedoed until persons on board had 
been placed in safety, this new act of frightfulness seemed like 
a deliberate breaking of the pledge, a w^anton act of defiance. 
In great alarm the Austrian charge. Baron Zwiedinek, made 
haste to explain. Judgment, he said, should be withheld dur- 
ing an investigation of the real facts surrounding the sinking 
of the Persia. It may have happened in many ways. It is not 
yet proved that a submarine sank her. If so, and the destroyer 
was an Austrian submarine, he was quite sure his Government 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 211 

would not hesitate to settle the matter satisfactorily. It might 
be that circumstances warranted the action. From the White 
House came the statement that the President was taking every 
means in his power to obtain the facts, and would act just as 
soon as full information was at hand. 

Much information was secured: but nothing that bore on 
the point in dispute. At Alexandria the American consul 
took the affidavits of many of the survivors ; but not one of them 
had seen a submarine, or a torpedo. 

Without waiting for action by the German Government, 
Count von Bernstorff, on January 7, 1916, brought to the De- 
partment of State a memorandum explaining the German 
method of conducting submarine warfare in the Mediterranean. 
From the beginning of the war, it stated, German submarine 
commanders in that sea had been ordered "to conduct cruiser 
warfare against enemy merchant vessels only in accordance 
with the general principles of international law." Measures 
"of reprisal, as applied in the war zone around the British 
Isles, were to be excluded." Merchant vessels in the Mediter- 
ranean therefore could be destroyed by submarines only after 
passengers and crews had "been accorded safety" provided the 
vessels did not attempt to escape or offer resistance. Destruc- 
tion of such ships was officially investigated and so far as 
American interests are concerned the results would be sent to 
the American Government. "Thus also in the Persia case, if 
the circumstances should call for it." If submarine com- 
manders did not obey orders they would be punished and rep- 
aration made for the death or injury of American citizens. 

WTien investigation was made the German Government sent 
assurances that it had heard from all its submarine commanders 
in the Mediterranean Sea, and that each reported that he had 
not attacked the Persia, and the Austrian charge declared that 
no Austrian submarine commander, so far as heard from, had 
sunk the ship. In the absence of evidence from survivors, and 
in the face of such statements from Vienna and Berlin, the loss 
of an American life by the sinking of the Persia could not be 
made the subject of complaint. Perhaps a Turkish submarine 
had done the deed. Turkey was therefore asked concerning the 



212 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

operations of her submarines and denied they had anything to 
do with the destruction of the Persia. 

On the tenth of January, 1916, the newspapers announced 
that Count von Bernstorff and Secretary Lansing, who had been 
working for some time past for a settlement of the Lusitania 
question, had agreed on a tentative arrangement and sent it to 
the Foreign Office at Berlin. Although the utmost secrecy 
surrounded the negotiation the assertion was made that the 
draft as submitted by Germany made no mention of the warn- 
ing issued by the German Embassy, and contained no admis- 
sion of wrong doing on the part of the submarine commander 
who sank the Lusitania, and that for these reasons the proposal 
was rejected by the President. A new draft was therefore pre- 
sented later in January. This too was rejected because, it was 
said, Germany had not consented to admit legal liability for the 
destruction of the Lusitania. Germany was willing to pay in- 
demnity as an act of grace, but not as a matter of law or right 
as the United States insisted she should. Another draft was 
therefore drawn up and finally referred to Berlin. As sum- 
marized by those who claimed to know, the terms of the memo- 
randum were that Germany was not called on to make a specific 
disavowal of the sinking of the Lusitania; that the destruction 
of the vessel was an act of reprisal recognized by international 
law, in retaliation for the illegal starvation blockade of Ger- 
many by Great Britain; that Germany recognized that while 
the sinking of the liner was a lawful reprisal, the consequent 
killing of innocent neutrals was an illegal and unlawful act; 
that realizing that the killing of American citizens was illegal 
Germany would pay indemnity; and that she had abandoned 
this form of reprisal and in future would not sink without warn- 
ing. 

On February 2, it was reported from Washington that new 
instructions had come from Berlin, that there was a reasonable 
hope of coming to an understanding ; that important concessions 
had been made ; that all danger of a break in diplomatic rela- 
tions was over, and that from the German point of view all that 
the United States asked had been, in substance, granted. Re- 
ports from Berlin set forth that Germany could not and would 
not acknowledge the sinking of a liner by a submarine to be 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 213 

illegal ; that the new instructions to von Bernstorff contained 
merely a new formula by which it was hoped to satisfy Wash- 
ington in this respect without humiliating Germany; that the 
word "illegal" was not in the formula, which in other respects 
went as far as possible toward meeting the wishes of America. 

Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Alfred Zimmer- 
mann, in an interview, said he hoped the formula would afford 
a possible base of settlement, for Germany had reached the limit 
of her concessions and under no circumstances would she con- 
cede that her campaign in the war zone was illegal. "The 
Government is willing "to do everything in its power to meet 
American wishes, but there are limits beyond which even 
friendship snaps. I do not understand America's course. We 
thought the submarine issue settled, and the Lusitania question 
on the way to arrangement, had agreed to pay indemnity and all 
that, when the United States suddenly made its new demands, 
which it is impossible for us to accept." 

His firm stand, made it was afterwards charged for home 
consumption, was heartily approved in Germany. The feeling 
was bitter against our country because of the shipment of muni- 
tions of war, and because of what was held to be our double 
standard of neutrality as shown by not pressing Great Britain 
as hard as Germany. 

To the charge of Dr. Zimmermann, Secretary Lansing re- 
plied, "I doubt very much that Dr. Zimmermann made such 
a statement as he must know it is utterly false." The United 
States, the Secretary said, had not increased its demands over 
those in the notes of May 13, June 9, and July 12. In the first 
Lusitania note, that of May 13, 1015, are the words "disavow 
the act, make reparation and take immediate steps to prevent 
the recurrence of anything as obviously subversive of the prin- 
ciples of warfare." The second note, that of June 9, 1915, 
"very earnestly and very solemnly" renewed the demands of 
the first. In that of July 21, our Government, taking the 
ground that the Imperial Government by pleading "the right of 
retaliation in defense of its acts" admitted their illegality, 
"could not believe" that it would "longer refrain from dis- 
avowing the wanton act of its naval commander in sinking the 



214 THE UXITP:d STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Lusitania." It was this demand for disavowal three times re- 
peated that prevented settlement. 

Rumors of a settlement now became current. The language 
of the new memorandum was said to have been approved, and 
the formula made broad enough to cover all that had been de- 
manded in the Lusitania case, and only the most unexpected 
event could reopen discussion; but the rumors were false, the 
formula was not accepted and the issue still remains unsettled. 

And now, Germany once more explained her position in the 
U-boat controversy, and March 8, 1916, the Department of 
State received an undated memorandum. The Imperial 
Government, Count von Bernstorff said, because of the friendly 
relations which had always existed between the two great na- 
tions, and earnestly desiring to continue them, wished to ex- 
plain the U-boat question once more to the American Govern- 
ment. At the opening of the war, the German Government, 
acting on the suggestion of the United States, expressed willing- 
ness to ratify the Declaration of London. Great Britain on the 
other hand declined, began to restrict the lawful trade of neu- 
trals as a blow at Germany, extended the list of contraband ar- 
ticles, and by an order of the Admiralty declared the whole 
ITorth Sea a war zone within which merchant ships would be 
in serious danger from mines and men of war. Protests from 
neutrals were of no avail, and thenceforth neutral trade with 
Germany was dead. Under these conditions Germany was 
forced to resort to reprisals and chose for that purpose a new 
weapon, the submarine boat. As both belligerents claimed that 
their acts were "in retaliation for the violation of international 
law by their opponents, the American Government approached 
both" in the hope of reestablishing international law as it had 
been before the war. "Germany was asked to adapt her new 
weapon to rules" which applied to the old naval weapons. 
Great Britain was asked not to cut off "the food supplies in- 
tended for the noncombatant German population and to admit 
their distribution under Ajnerican supervision." Germany ex- 
pressed her willingness to comply; England declined. Never- 
theless, Germany after "neutral citizens had lost their lives 
against the wish and intention of the German Government," 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 215 

complied with the wishes of the American Government in the 
use of submarines. 

"Thus England made it impossible for submarines to con- 
form with the old rules of international law by arming nearly 
all merchantmen, and by ordering the use of guns on merchant 
vessels for attack," and supplemented the order by "instruc- 
tions to the masters of such ships to hoist false flags and to ram 
the boats." Finally "the principle of the United States not to 
keep their citizens off belligerent ships has been used by Great 
Britain and her Allies to arm merchant ships for offensive pur- 
poses." 

"]^ow Germany is facing the following facts" : A blockade 
contrary to international law which has cut off neutral trade 
from her ports ; an extension of contraband provisions in viola- 
tion of international law, which for eighteen months has ham- 
pered the overseas trade of neighboring neutral countries ; and 
the interception of mails in violation of international law. 
"Following the principle of 'might before right/ England had 
prevented neutral trade on land with Germany so as to com- 
plete the blockade of the Central Powers intended to starve 
their civil population," and by arming merchant vessels for 
offensive purposes had made it impossible for Germany to use 
TJ-boats "according to the principles set forth in the London 
Declaration." 

On March 23, the Allies, through their representatives in 
Washington, replied to Mr. Lansing's request that they dis- 
arm their merchantmen, and declared themselves unwilling to 
give up their "acknowledged right to arm," or to "agree that, 
upon a non-gTiaranteed German promise, human life may be 
surrendered defenseless to the mercy of an enemy who, in cir- 
cumstances of this kind as in many others, has shown himself 
to be both faithless and lawless." 

The very next day a German submarine gave a fine illus- 
tration of the worthlessness of German pledges by torpedoing 
without warning an unarmed passenger steamer while crossing 
the Channel. 

The torpedoed vessel was the French passenger steamer 
Sussex, regularly employed in transporting travelers between 
Folkestone and Dieppe. She left Folkestone about half past 



216 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

one o'clock on the afternoon of March 24, 1916, with a crew of 
53 men and 325 or more passengers, of whom some 25 were 
American citizens. She carried no armament, had never been 
used as a troop ship, and was following a route not taken by 
vessels transporting troops from England to France. At ten 
minutes before three o'clock, when the Sussex was some thir- 
teen miles from Dungeness, the captain saw, one hundred and 
fifty meters off the port side of his ship, the wake of a torpedo, 
and gave orders to port the helm and stop the engines, hoping to 
swing the Sussex to starboard and allow the torpedo to pass 
along the port bow. Before she could be turned sufficiently to 
prevent her crossing the path of the torpedo it struck her just 
forward of the bridge, exploded and tore away the forward 
part of the vessel as far back as the first water tight bulkhead, 
killing or wounding some eighty persons. Such was the story 
of the captain. 

The story of two American survivors as given in an affidavit 
sets forth that about five minutes after three, when the Sussex 
was about an hour and a half out from Folkestone, there was a 
loud explosion; that wi'cckage and tons of water were thrown 
into the air ; that when the affiants went forward they saw that 
the forward part of the vessel including the bridge and fore- 
mast were gone, and that many persons had been killed and 
others had been thrown or had jumped into the water. Six 
life boats were lowered, but, finding the ship did not sink, they 
were later recalled, and taken aboard. INear midnight a French 
trawler took off the women and children and some men, and 
carried them to Boulogne. A British torpedo boat removed the 
remainder of the passengers and crew and carried them to 
Dover. The Sussex was towed into the harbor of Boulogne. A 
careful and thorough examination of the vessel both inside and 
out, by naval and military officers of the United States, at- 
tached to our Embassy at Paris, and the finding of fifteen frag- 
ments of what seemed to be a torpedo, established the fact that 
it was a torpedo and not a mine that almost destroyed the 
Sussex. Indeed, when the fragments were compared with Ger- 
man torpedoes in England, no doubt remained that they were 
parts not merely of a torpedo, but of one "made in Germany." 

More sinkings now followed in rapid succession. The Eng- 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 217 

lishman, and the Manchester Engineer, with Americans aboard, 
were reported sunk, and because the Government could do noth- 
ing before facts had been obtained, Ambassador Gerard was 
instructed to inquire of the German Government if the Sussex, 
the Englishman and the Manchester Engineer had been de- 
stroyed by submarines. Investigation by the German Admiralty 
was begun but before any reply was made to the American re- 
quest news came that the steamers Berwindvale and Eagle 
Point with Americans on board had been torpedoed, and Ger- 
many was asked if they were sunk by submarines. "Who on 
earth in Germany cares," said a Hamburg newspaper, "whether 
these ships were torpedoed by German submarines or not ? 
They belonged to and were used by the enemy and were de- 
stroyed. That is all we care about at this moment." 

In the Reichstag resolutions were adopted declaring that 
"Germany's sea warfare should be carried out by all means 
most instrumental in securing a successful issue of the war." 
In the course of debate leaders of all parties called for unre- 
stricted submarine warfare. A JSTational Liberal said, "America 
has interpreted the idea of neutrality in a manner incompatible 
with the German conception. It is an unjustifiable demand 
that armed merchantmen should be permitted to sail unhin- 
dered within the war zone." A Conservative member asserted 
that "the German people are firmly resolved to disregard the 
unjustifiable demands of America." A leader of the Center 
complained that the people, press and Government of the United 
States had shown by their acts that they sympathized with Eng- 
land and not with Germany. 

Little surprise, therefore, was expressed when reports from 
Berlin announced that Germany would enter a flat denial that 
a submarine had sunk the Sussex, and that in a day or two Am- 
bassador Gerard would be handed the note. The report proved 
to be true and on April 13, 1916, the note was made public. 

On March 16, said the note, a steamer "which possibly was 
the Berwindvale" was met, in sight of Bull Rock on the Irish 
Coast, by a submarine running unsubmerged, attempted to es- 
cape, was warned by a shot, put out all lights and continued to 
flee, was fired on, forced to halt and then lowered her boats. 
After the crew had entered them and rowed away she was sunk. 



218 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD MAR 

Her name was unknown but as she "was a tank steamer like 
the Berwindvale the identity of the ship may be assumed." 

The steamer Englishman off the west coast of "Islay Heb- 
rides" was summoned to stop, on March 24, but went on, was 
fired on and "after an extended chase" made to halt. When the 
crew had taken to the boats she also was sunk. That the Man- 
chester Engineer was destroyed by a submarine was doubtful. 
]\rore information therefore was asked. The account of the 
sinking of the Eagle Point, as told in the German note, was 
much the same. She had been warned, chased, fired on, made 
to halt and when the crew were in the boats, was sunk. 

As to the Sussex, the facts, gathered with much difficulty, 
were, that on March 24, "a long black craft without a flag, hav- 
ing a gray funnel, small gray f(jrward works and two high masts, 
was encountered about the middle of the English Channel, by 
a German submarine." The "plain unbroken deck," the form 
of the stern, "sloping downwards and backwards like a war ves- 
sel;" the "high speed developed" and her color, "like a war ves- 
sel," led the commander of the submarine to believe she was 
a war vessel, and "indeed a mine layer." Therefore she was 
attacked while the submarine was submerged. "The torpedo 
struck and caused such a violent explosion in the forward part 
of the ship that the. entire forward part was torn away to the 
bridge." The violence of the explosion justified the belief that 
"great amounts of munitions were aboard." 

The German commander made a sketch'of the vessel, "two 
drawings of which" were enclosed as were two pictures of the 
Sussex, "reproduced photographically from the English paper, 
the Daily Graphic, of the 27th ultimo." 

A comparison of the picture and the sketch showed, the note 
said, such differences in the positions of the stacks and shape 
of the sterns, that the craft attacked could not be the Sussex. 
As no other attack by submarines occurred at the time she was 
on the Folkestone — Dieppe route "the German Government 
must therefore assume that the injury to the Sussex is attribu- 
table to another cause than an attack by a German submarine." 
Such a cause might be a mine, for "no less than 26 English 
mines were exploded by shots by German naval forces on April 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 219 

1 and 2, alone. The entire sea is, in fact, endangered by float- 
ing mines and by torpedoes, that have not sunk." 

Should any difference of opinion arise "between the two 
Governments, the German Government now declares itself 
ready to have the facts of the case established through mixed 
commissions of investigation in accordance with the third title 
of The Hague Agreement for the Peaceful Settlement of Inter- 
national Conflicts, November 18, 1907." 

April 18, the newspapers asserted that the President would 
address Congress on the submarine issue on the nineteenth ; that 
it was expected "he would not mince words" ; but, after re- 
citing the long list of offenses committed against us by Ger- 
many, would declare her guilty of bad faith, no more worthy 
to be considered a friend, and would announce that diplomatic 
relations with her were ended. 

When the people opened their newspapers on the morning 
of the nineteenth they found the note to Germany printed in 
full, and learned that it would be in Berlin before the President 
met Congress. 

Information in the possession of the Government, the Presi- 
dent said, fully established the facts in the case of the Sussex. 
"A careful, detailed and scrupulously impartial investigation 
by naval and military officers of the United States has con- 
clusively established the fact that the Sussex was torpedoed 
without warning or summons to surrender, and that the tor- 
pedo by which she was struck was of German manufacture." 

If the sinking of the Sussex were an isolated case the 
Government of the United States might hope that the officer 
responsible for the deed "had willfully violated his orders or 
had been criminally negligent in taking none of the precau- 
tions" required. On the contrary, the Government of the United 
States was forced to conclude "that it is only one instance" of 
"the deliberate method and spirit of indiscriminate destruc- 
tion of merchant vessels of all sorts, nationalities and destina- 
tions which have become more and more unmistakable as the 
activity of German undersea vessels of war has in recent months 
been quickened and extended." 

The President then reviewed the German war zone order of 
February, 1915, the earnest protest of the United States, the 



220 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

grounds on which the protest rested, and continued, "In pur- 
suance of this policy of submarine warfare against the com- 
merce of its adversaries," German submarine commanders had 
carried on "practices of ruthless destruction" which the Ger- 
man Government could not restrain "as it had hoped and prom- 
ised" to do. "Again and again the Imperial Government has 
given its solemn assurances to the Government of the United 
States that at least passenger ships would not be thus dealt with, 
and yet it has repeatedly permitted its undersea commanders 
to disregard those assurances with entire impunity." Vessels 
owned by neutrals, bound from neutral port to neutral port, had 
been destroyed "in constantly increasing numbers." Some had 
been warned before they were attacked; sometimes their pas- 
sengers and crews "had been vouchsafed the poor security of 
being allowed to take to the ship's boats." But again and again 
no warning had been given and "great liners like the Lusitania 
and Arabic and mere passenger boats like the Sussex have been 
attacked without a moment's warning" and "in a manner which 
the Government of the United States cannot but regard as 
wanton and without the slightest color of justification." 

The "roll of Americans who have lost their lives upon 
ships thus attacked and destroyed has grown month by month 
until the ominous toll has mounted into the hundreds." 

The Government through all this repetition of tragedy af- 
ter tragedy had been most patient. It had striven to be guided 
by "sentiments of genuine friendship for the people and Govern- 
ment of Germany." It had accepted every explanation and as- 
surance as "given in entire sincerity and good faith." It had 
"hoped even against hope" that the German Government would 
be able "so to order and control the acts of its naval com- 
manders as to square its policy with the recognized principles of 
humanity as embodied in the law of nations." It had "made 
every allowance for unprecedented conditions." Jt had "been 
willing to wait until the facts became unmistakable and were 
susceptible of only one interpretation." 

"It now owes it to a just regard for its own rights to say to 
the Imperial Government that that time has come." If there- 
fore it was still the purpose of the Imperial Government to 
prosecute relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 221 

of commerce by the use of submarines, there was but one course 
for the Government of the United States to pursue. 

"Unless the Imperial Government should now iimnediately 
declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of 
submarine warfare against passenger and freight-carrying ves- 
sels, the Government of the United States can have no other 
choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Em- 
pire altogether." 

An appendix to the note gave the evidence, affidavits of sur- 
vivors, reports from the Captain of the Sussex and the Ameri- 
can officers who examined her wreck, statements from the Brit- 
ish Admiralty and the French Foreign Office and descriptions 
of the fifteen pieces of metal, all of which went to prove that 
the Sussex was struck by a German torpedo. 

The speech to Congress was a review of our relations with 
Germany, but what the President said added little to the con- 
tents of the note. Indeed, whole passages were quoted from it 
word for word. 

By those who heard the address it was received with ap- 
proval and disapproval. Some thought the issue was a matter 
for the President and not for Congress to settle; that the ad- 
dress pointed to a very grave situation ; that the President could 
not have done less under the circumstances ; that it was a mere 
statement of facts and might as well have been given to the 
newspapers so far as Congressional action was concerned; that 
coming after the note had been sent, the address was wholly un- 
necessary; that the situation was serious, but that breaking 
diplomatic relations did not necessarily mean war unless an- 
other case like the Sussex occurred; that the time to have 
threatened the breaking of diplomatic relations was when Bel- 
gium was invaded, or the Lusitania sunk; that "the President 
has never been neutral. He has been on the English side all 
the time. What he said about Germany, while it is grossly ex- 
aggerated, is a just complaint. But he could say just as much 
about England, by substituting 'seizing ships' for 'sinking 
ships'," that "the President has issued his ultimatum and now 
asks Congress to sustain him. He has told Germany that she 
must abandon submarine warfare, a modern institution that no 
nation would for a single moment think of abandoning. I 



222 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

know it is popular to sav, 'stand by the President.' I propose 
to stand by that President when he is right, but in this instance 
a nation fighting for her national life is not going to be harassed 
or hounded by ancient, antiquated, antediluvian international 
laws that have been resurrected at Germany's expense." 

The German language press was outspoken against the 
President. The ISTew York Staats-Z eitung held it to be "un- 
thinkable that the German Government should recognize" the 
President as the spokesman of all neutral nations, "and grant 
the peremptory demands of the President as long as the cause 
for the inauguration of this submarine warfare, the illegal 
British blockade," remained in force, "and as long as British in- 
humanity against the civilian noncombatant population of Ger- 
many is continued." "The President has brought about a dip- 
lomatic situation which must involve the United States in a 
war with Germany unless Congress intercedes in proper time." 

The Illinois 8taats-Z eitung was "not aware that Mr. Wil- 
son ever received a mandate to represent humanity, and if he 
did he ought to return his retainer, for he never represents hu- 
manity, but the interests of ammunition makers." The Cin- 
cinnati Freie Presse declared that "Wall Street wants war, and 
Morgan wants it, but the majority of the American people 
want no war, especially no war with a nation that has been our 
friend for a hundred years." 

The American press the country over approved the address 
and the stand the President had taken. The patience of the 
country, it was said, had been strained far beyond the point 
where the forbearance of other nations would have ceased. 
Only an accumulation of grievances, only a repeated violation 
of pledges, made to us by the German Government, has at last 
brought the President to the breaking point. |It is now for 
Germany to decide whether or not her barbarous conduct is to 
continue. The President does not seek war. There can be no 
war unless Germany commits an overt act of war. If that is 
what Berlin is bent upon nothing the United States can do 
will prevent it, save shame and submission, a price no great 
nation would ever pay. Whatever disposition fate may make of 
the present emergency, the people will support the President 
with every resource they command. 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 223 

German-Americans, however, were active in their opposi- 
tion, and members of Congress from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Wisconsin, Minnesota, having German constituencies, received 
hundreds of telegrams protesting against a break with Germany. 

The London press expressed the opinion that there was now 
no retreat for either party, and that Germany must either 
yield or fight. That she would yield was not expected. Amer- 
ica had now practically taken her place beside the civilized na- 
tions of the earth. In Paris the press took the same view. 
"France," said one, "awaits calmly the eventual rupture. 
America could not give us greater sympathy than she has al- 
ready shown, but we will feel moral joy to see that noble na- 
tion break all relations with a nation of pirates which precipi- 
tated the present world tragedy." 

The Berlin press, as reports from Geneva announced, was 
angry. Germany, the Tages Zeitung declared, would never 
yield to America because of Wilson's bluff. "The attitude of 
the American press is in comical contrast to the really effective 
power of that country. When the sword of Damocles remains 
too long suspended we can see it is only a wooden one." The 
Berlin Post had "heard enough of silly reproaches leveled at us 
by America's seagoing citizens. If Washington gentlemen be- 
lieve we have nothing more important to do than to investigate 
whether any cattle driver had a lock of his precious hair ruf- 
fled while crossing to Europe, then the people in the White 
House are terribly mistaken. Why do Americans choose ships 
in which they can be hurt ? Does the American Government 
deny that there are rascals among America's sons ? If such 
rascals are paid with British gold to make dangerous ocean 
trips, why should Wilson make us responsible for their lives ?" 

"We did not sink the Sussex," said Admiral von Holtzen- 
dorff, of the German Admiralty, in an interview with the 
agents of the United Press. "I am as confident of that as of 
anything which has happened in this war. Many of our sub- 
marines have returned from rounding up British vessels. They 
sighted scores of passenger ships going between England and 
America, but not one of these was touched." "We have defi- 
nitely agi'ced to warn the crews and passengers of passenger 
liners. We have lived up to that promise in every way, but we 



224 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

cannot be asked to regard freight ships in the same manner." 
"If diplomatic relations with America are broken our sub- 
marines can attack an enemy ship without warning. But we 
have no desire for a break with the United States. That would 
be insanity. We shall not bring it about despite our desire to 
push vigorously our submarine warfare." ^ 

The reply from von Jagow was dated May 4. The German 
Government, it said, had turned over to the proper naval au- 
thorities the evidence submitted by the Government of the 
United States concerning the Sussex, and by the results of the 
investigation was led to believe it possible that the ship men- 
tioned in the note of April 10, as having been torpedoed, was 
the Sussex. But the German Government must reserve "fur- 
ther communication until it had settled certain points" of de- 
cisive importance for establishing the facts in the case. Should 
it turn out that the commander was wrong in assuming*the ves- 
sel to be a man-of-war the German Government will not fail 
to draw the consequence resulting therefrom. 

The Government of the United States, von Jagow went on 
to say, had made "the assertion that the incident is to be con- 
sidered but one instance of a deliberate method of indiscriminate 
destruction of vessels of all sorts, nationalities and destina- 
tions, by German submarine commanders. The German Gov- 
ernment must emphatically repudiate the assertion." 

But the German Government would not discuss the matter 
"more particularly as the Government of the United States 
omitted to substantiate the assertion by reference to concrete 
facts." It would only state that "far reaching restraints upon 
the use of the submarine weapon" had been imposed solely "in 
consideration of neutral" interest in spite of the fact that these 
restrictions are necessarily of disadvantage to Germany's inter- 
ests. ISTo such consideration for neutrals had ever been shown 
by Great Britain or her allies. 

"The German submarine forces had, in fact, orders to con- 
duct submarine warfare in accordance with the general princi- 
ples of visit and search and destruction of merchant vessels as 
recognized by international law, the sole exception being the 

* Dispatch of C. W. Ackerman, correspondent of United Press, Phila- 
delphia Ledger, April 22, 1916. 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 225 

conduct of warfare against the enemy trade carried on enemy 
freight ships that are encountered in the war zone surrounding 
Great Britain. With regard to these no assurance has ever 
been given to the Government of the United States. . . . 

"The German Government attaches no less importance to 
the sacred principles of humanity than the Government of the 
United States," and fully takes into account that both Govern- 
ments had for years sought to confine warfare on sea and on 
land to the armed forces of the belligerents and to safeguard, 
as far as possible, noncombatants against the horrors of war. 

"But, although those considerations are of great weight, 
they alone would not, under the present circumstances, have 
determined the attitude of the German Government." For 
it was not Germany but the British Government that "has ex- 
tended this terrible war to the lives and property of non- 
combatants." . . . "In self-defense against the illegal conduct 
of British warfare, while fighting a bitter struggle for her 
national existence, Germany had to resort to the hard but 
effective weapon of submarine warfare. As matters stand, the 
German Government cannot but reiterate its regret that the 
sentiments of humanity which the Government of the United 
States extends with such fervor to the unhappy victims of 
submarine warfare are not extended with the same warmth 
of feeling to the many millions of women and children who, 
according to the avowed intentions of the British Government, 
shall be starved and who, by their sufferings, shall force the 
victorious armies of the Central Powers into ignominious ca- 
pitulation. The German Government, in agreement with the 
German people, fails to understand this discrimination." . . . 
"The German people know that the Government of the United 
States has the power to confine this war to the armed forces 
of the belligerent countries in the interest of humanity and 
the maintenance of international law," by insisting "against 
Great Britain on its incontestable rights to the freedom of the 
seas. But, as matters stand, the German people is under the 
impression that the Government of the United States, while 
demanding that Germany, struggling for her existence, shall 
restrain the use of an effective weapon, and while making the 
compliance with these demands a condition for the maintenance 



226 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

of relations with Germany, confines itself to protests against 
the illegal methods adopted by Germany's enemies. More- 
over, the German people know to what a considerable extent 
its enemies are supplied with all kinds of war material from 
the United States." 

But the German Government had no desire that the sub- 
marine question under discussion should "take a turn seri- 
ously threatening the maintenance of peace between the two 
nations. As far as it lies with the German Government it 
wishes to prevent things taking such a course." Therefore, 
guided by this idea, it "notifies the Government of the United 
States that German naval forces have received the following- 
orders: In accordance with the general principles of visit and 
search and destruction of merchant vessels recognized by inter- 
national law, such vessels, both within and without the area 
declared as naval war zone, shall not be sunk without warning 
and without saving human lives, unless those ships attempt to 
escape or offer resistance. 

"But neutrals cannot expect that Germany, forced to fight 
for her existence, shall for the sake of neutral interests, restrict 
the use of an effective weapon if her enemy is permitted to 
continue to apply at will methods of warfare violating the rules 
of international law." Therefore, "in consequence of the new 
orders," the German Government did "not doubt that the Gov- 
ernment of the United States will now demand and insist that 
the British Government shall forthwith observe the rules of 
international law" as laid down in the American notes to Great 
Britain on December 28, 1914, and November 5, 1915. 
"Should the steps be taken by the Government of the United 
States not attain the object it desires to have the laws of human- 
ity followed by all belligerent nations, the German Govern- 
ment would then be facing a new situation, in which it must 
reserve itself complete liberty of decision." 

As understood by the people, the note seemed to mean 
that Germany was desirous to avoid a break with the United 
States; that the Imperial Government sought to convey the 
impression that its new instructions to submarine commanders 
was a full compliance with the demands of the United States, 
and that they were made in good faith. But there was good 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 227 

reason to believe, in view of the record of the past, that the 
spirit and perhaps the letter of the instructions would not be 
carried out very long. On the other hand, there were expres- 
sions and passages in the note that were offensive. "Must 
emphatically repudiate" the assertion that the destruction of 
the "Sussex was but an instance of a deliberate destruction of 
vessels was too strong. The "regret" that the sentiments of 
humanity expressed for victims of submarine warfare were 
not extended to the many millions, women and children. Great 
Britain sought to starve was a little too ironical. 

By the press the note was generally condemned. The new 
pledge had a "string tied to it" and would not be kept unless 
we forced Great Britain to lift her blockade. British viola- 
tions affected only property, and could be atoned for with 
money. Those of Germany affected human life and could not 
be atoned for with money. Manifestly the tone of the note was 
intended for Berlin ; the substance for Washington. All -told, 
it had the appearance of being as little conciliatory as words 
could make it. "The German Government makes damnable 
faces all through its note, but the central thing required by 
President Wilson it yields." Knowing the difficulties which 
beset the German Government, we could therefore well afford 
to overlook what under other circumstances would be impu- 
dence. The concession was conditional, but it would bring 
the conduct of submarine warfare into accord with our de- 
mands. Expressions of opinion by forty-five daily newspapers 
of importance, the Philadelphia Ledger declared, showed, while 
eighteen ajDproved and twelve were noncommittal, fifteen were 
outspoken in their disapproval." Extracts from ten Ger- 
man language newspapers ^ showed that, in their opinion, Ger- 
many had gone more than halfway in an effort to meet Ameri- 
can demands. The Toledo German Express considered the note 
"not an ultimatum, but on the contrary a sincere and renewed 
effort not to have the peaceful relations of the last hundred 
years" severed. The Louisville Anzeiger called the note a 
clear, frank, fearless exposition "in which, while the German 
Government virtually accedes to American demands," it "at the 

•Philadelphia Ledger, May 6, 1916. 
'Ibid. 



228 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

same time turns the issue neatly and leaves the final decision 
with the United States." 

The special concession thus wrung from Germany after 
months of constant protest and negotiation was small, indeed. 
Enemy freight ships found in the war zone were not to be 
stopped, visited, searched and destroyed according to the prin- 
ciples of international law; other merchant ships, if they did 
not resist or attempt to escape, were to have the benefit of the 
principles of visit, search and destruction as prescribed by 
international law; but neutrals would not be granted even this 
concession if Great Britain were permitted ''to continue to 
apply at will methods of warfare violating the principles of 
international law." Yet it was of real importance to force 
Germany to pledge herself to conduct her submarine warfare 
"in accordance with the general principles of visit and search 
and destruction of merchant vessels," for it was an admission 
that hitherto she had not done so. But was this pledge worth 
anything with the condition attached ? The President and 
his Cabinet thought not, and on May 8, 1916, Secretary 
Lansing replied with a note, made public on May 9, in which 
"the Imperial Government's declaration of its abandonment of 
the policy which has so seriously menaced the good relations 
between the two countries," was accepted and the condition 
expressly rejected. 

"The Government of the United States feels it necessary 
to state that it takes it for granted that the Imperial German 
Government does not intend to imply that the maintenance of 
its newly announced policy is in any way contingent upon 
the course or result of diplomatic negotiations between the Gov- 
ernment of the United States and any other belligerent Govern- 
ment, notwithstanding the fact that certain passages in the 
Imperial Government's note of the fourth instant appear to be 
susceptible of that construction." 

"In order, however, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, 
the Government of the United States notifies the Imperial 
Government that it cannot for a moment entertain, much less 
discuss, a suggestion that respect by German naval authorities 
for the rights of citizens of the United States upon the high 
seas should in any way or in the slightest degi-ee be made con- 



SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 229 

tingent upon the conduct of any other Government aifecting 
the rights of neutrals and noncombatants. Kesponsibility in 
such matters is single, not joint; absolute, not relative." 

Meantime on May 8, 1916, the German Government fin- 
ished its investigation and in a note to Mr. Gerard acknowl- 
edged that a German submarine damaged the Sussex. "On the 
basis of the American material/' said von Jagow, "the German 
Government cannot withhold its conviction that the ship tor- 
pedoed by the German submarine is in fact identical with the 
Sussex, for in accordance with this material the place, the time, 
and the effect of the explosion by which the Sussex was dam- 
aged agree in the essential details with the statements of the 
German commander, so that there can no longer be any ques- 
tion of the possibility of two independent occurrences." Un- 
doubtedly the German submarine commander thought he "was 
facing an enemy warship." 

But he formed his judgment too hurriedly in establishing 
her character and did not, therefore, act fully in accordance 
with the strict instruction which called on him to exercise 
particular care. 

"In view of these circumstances the German Government 
frankly admits that the assurances given to the American Gov- 
ernment" that "passenger vessels were not to be attacked with- 
out warning has not been adhered to in the present instance." 
Therefore, the German Government expressed "its sincere 
regret regarding the deplorable incident and declares its readi- 
ness to pay an indemnity." The note closed with the expres- 
sion of a "hope that the American Government will consider 
the case of the Sussex as settled by these statements." 



CHAPTER IX 

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 

While the Department of State was busy with the case of 
the Ancona, Congress assembled and listened to the annual 
speech of the President. He had much to say concerning our 
policy towards Mexico; fuller justice for the Philippines and 
Porto Rico; a great merchant marine; more revenue that we 
might "pay as we go" ; a commission to canvass the question 
of proper regulation of railroads; and the mobilization of the 
resources of the country, and asked for laws for the punishment 
of citizens who, "born under other flags, but welcomed under 
our generous naturalization laws to the full freedom and oppor- 
tunity of America," had "poured the poison of disloyalty into 
the very arteries of our national life," and sought "to destroy 
our industries wherever they thought it effective for their vin- 
dictive purposes to strike at them and to debase our politics 
to the uses of foreign intrigue." 

But the portion of his speech which aroused the widest 
interest was that in which he asked for preparedness for 
national defense. 

ISTo one who understood the spirit of our people, he said, 
could fail to perceive "that their passion is for peace." Great 
democracies are not belligerent. They do not seek or desire 
war. We regard war merely as a means of asserting the rights 
of a people against aggression. We will not maintain a stand- 
ing army except for uses as necessary in times of peace as 
in times of war. But we do believe in a body of free citizens 
ready and sufficient to take care of themselves and of the Gov- 
ernment they have set up to serve them. But war has never been 
a mere matter of men and guns. If our citizens are to fight 
effectively they must know how modern fighting is done and 
what to do when the summons comes, and the Government 

230 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 231 

must give tliem tlie training thev need in order to care for 
themselves and it. 

With these ideas in mind plans had been prepared by the 
Department of War "for more adequate national defense/' 
which Congress was urged "to sanction and put into effect as 
soon as they can be properly scrutinized and discussed." 

The President would have the standing force of the regular 
army increased from 108,013 officers and men to 141,8-13, rank 
and file, and supplemented by "a force of -400,000 disciplined 
citizens raised in increments of 133,000 a year throughout a 
period of three years." The men should be volunteers and bind 
themselves to serve with the colors for two months during 
each of the three years for purpose of training. Their three 
periods of training over, they would be required to serve three 
years more on furlough and be ready to join the colors at call 
at any time. "At least so much by way of preparation for 
defense seems to mp to be absolutely imperative now. We can- 
not do less," said the President. 

Turning to preparedness in the navy, the President con- 
tinued, we have always looked to it "as our first line of defense, 
we have always seen it to be our manifest course of prudence 
to be strong on the sea." His plan, therefore, called for the 
building within five years of ten battleships, six battle cruisers, 
ten scout cruisers, fifty destroyers, fifteen fleet submarines, 
eighty-five coast submarines, four gunboats, one hospital, two 
ammunition, two fuel oil ships, and one repair ship. There 
should be 7,500 sailors, 2,500 apprentice seamen and 1,500 
marines added to the personnel of the navy and at least 300 
midshipmen to the Academy at Annapolis. Authority should 
be given to appoint for engineering duty only graduates of 
engineering colleges, and for service in the aviation corps a 
certain number of men taken from civil life. 

|__As the two Houses settled down to the routine business of 
the session the effect of the President's appeal for national 
preparedness for defense and his attack on disloyal citizens 
born under other flags than ours became quickly apparent. 
Senator Kenyon offered a resolution that, whereas it was appar- 
ent from the President's speech that he desired revenue to bo 
raised for an elaborate system of national defense, and the gen- 



232 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

eral welfare of the United States had been imperiled by the 
manufacture and shipment of munitions of war in large quan- 
tities to foreign nations, and the policy of preparedness advo- 
cated by the President had been made necessary, if at all, by 
the irritation caused to other nations by the shipment of arms 
and munitions of war; and whereas a few manufacturers of 
arms and munitions had made enormous profits thereby, and 
the country none at all ; and whereas prosperity based on profits 
from the making of instrumentalities to kill people could not be 
a lasting prosperity, justice required that those making huge 
profits should pay the expenses made necessary by their gains ; 
therefore, taxation should be laid on arms and munitions of 
war to such an extent as to produce sufficient revenue to pay 
for preparedness. 

Senator Gore introduced two bills. One prohibited belliger- 
ent vessels from transporting American citizens as passengers 
to or from ports in the United States; and American and 
neutral vessels from carrying American citizens and contra- 
band of war at one and the same time. The other forbade 
the issuance of passports for use on vessels of a belligerent 
country. /Under existing laws, both national and international, 
the Senator said, every American citizen has the legal right 
to travel on any passenger vessel that sails the seas. He has 
the legal, not the moral right, to run the risk of involving this 
nation in war and causing the sacrifice of millions of lives and 
billions of treasure. So long as the legal right exists it must 
be defended, at whatever cost, for our Government cannot 
suffer the rights of its citizens to be invaded with impunity. 
He believed this right should be suspended. Great Britain 
during the Russo-Japanese War had warned her subjects to 
keep off belligerent ships. Here was a precedent; but we had 
one of our own making, for the President had ordered Ameri- 
can citizens to abandon their homes and business and leave 
Mexico. 

Senator Lodge now applied to the Legislative Reference 
Division of the Library of Congress for information as to 
when the British Government warned its subjects not to travel 
on belligerent ships. The reply was that the statement orig- 
inated in a letter from a C. L. Schlens, published in the N^ew 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS • 233 

York Sun, July 30, 1915. The British consulate at Shanghai, 
China, during the Russo-Japanese War, the writer said, issued 
this notice: "All subjects of the Crown are notified that the 
British Government will not undertake to be responsible for 
the safety of any British subject leaving this port on a ship 
of either of the belligerent nations." August 7, 1915, this 
notice under the heading, "An English Precedent for Wilson," 
was copied and commented on by the Gaelic American; found 
its way, accredited to the Gaelic American, into a book pub- 
lished in Richmond and entitled, "Documents on the War of 
Nations, by C. L. Droste" ; appeared in Tlie Fatherland of 
February 16, 1916, under the heading "The Warning," and 
finally in the Outlook. The British Embassy was now applied 
to for information, inquired of the Foreign Office, and 
answered that the statement was untrue. The ForeigTi Office 
had never heard that any consular office had ever issued such 
a notice. If so, it acted contrary to instructions never to give 
advice to merchants or other persons. ISTo such name as C. L. 
Schlens appeared in the Kew York City Directory for 1915.^ 

On another day Mr. Gardner in the House declared there 
were three groups of persons who opposed preparedness, 
pacifists, cotton kings, who sought to cut off ammunition from 
Great Britain because she cut off their cotton from Germany, 
and German-Americans who said: "American helps the Allies, 
so, by hook or by crook, by laws or by strikes, by torpedoes or 
by mines, by gold or by dynamite, we will do everything we 
can to prevent the ammunition reaching the Allies." To this 
Mr. Long-worth of Ohio indignantly replied and said that in 
purity of motives, in lawfulness of acts, the German- Americans 
were the peers of any body of American citizens, and the House 
applauded. 

From the legislature of Georgia now came a joint resolu- 
tion approving, and pledging it to support, the principles for 
practical and adequate preparedness urged by the President 
in his Manhattan Club speech. Any plan of preparedness 
ought to include economic development of the country. 
Georgia, therefore, called attention to the importance of her 
great water power, and objected to the concentration of muni- 

^ Congressional Record, 64th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 3514-3516. 



234 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

tion plants along the coast from Connecticut to Virginia. 
Senator Owen offered a resolution authorizing the President 
to invite the nations of the world to send delegates to meet 
in AVashington, in May, 1016, in conference to make more 
certain, and properly declare, the rules of international law 
and propose the means of enforcing them. Each nation should 
have one vote for each 5,000,000 of its inhabitants, T^ut none 
should have more than twenty. 

From all parts of the country, from all sorts of societies, 
associations, organizations, leagues, from Farmers' Unions, 
Chambers of Commerce, religious bodies, from Workers' 
Unions, and from the legislatures of Rhode Island and Vir- 
ginia which sent instructions to their Senators, came petitions 
for and against an embargo on the export of arms and muni- 
tions. One, from The Organization of American Women for 
Strict IsTeutrality, with headquarters at Baltimore, presented 
by Senator Kenyon on January 27, 1916, was, he told the 
Senate, fifteen and a half miles long and bore the signatures 
of a million men and women, inhabitants of every State in the 
Union. It was brought from Baltimore in a huge moving 
van, was composed of a thousand rolls, each tied with red, 
white and blue ribbon, and was carried into the Senate Cham- 
ber in twenty clothes baskets. The signers declared they pro- 
tested, for humane reasons, against the exportation from our 
country of "the things that kill," for the use of nations engaged 
in the present conflict^ To sell arms and munitions to the 
belligerents might be legally right, but was morally wrong; 
while an embargo on the exportation of arms was both legally 
and morally right, and was supported by precedent. Presi- 
dent Taft had forbidden the export of arms to Mexico in 1912, 
President Wilson had followed his example in 1913, and Great 
Britain and Germany had not allowed munitions to be exported 
during our war with Spain. 

Of all the workers for an embargo on the exportation of 
arms and munitions, the most active, persistent and effective 
was the German organization known as the American Embargo 
Conference at Chicago. How it worked was made known to 
the Senate one day in April, 1916, by Senator Husting, of 
Wisconsin, "I have here," he said, "some letters and tele- 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 235 

grams sent to me which I think might be of interest to the 
Senate, and to the people. I want first to offer about one thou- 
sand letters which I received some time in February, and ask 
to have the Secretary read one of them. They are all iden- 
tical." The letter, signed by a German, was from Montello, Wis- 
consin, under date of February 9, 1916. ''I am addressing this 
appeal to you, as my representative in the upper house of Con- 
gress, to support the resolution placing an embargo upon the 
further shipment of arms and ammunition to the belligerent 
nations of Europe. ... I would point out to you that the 
large majority of the Wisconsin Congi-essional delegation is in 
favor of the embargo resolution, . . . and I feel that these 
men are convinced that their constituents want an embargo, 
and with this the situation in our State I respectfully request 
that you will give the embargo your support." 

To show the source of the thousand similar letters the 
Senator then had read a letter not addressed to him but for- 
warded by one who had received it. It was a circular letter 
sent out by the American Embargo Conference from Chicago, 
dated February 9, 1916, and asked if the receiver would not 
''join with us in the effort being made to induce United States 
Senator Paul O. Husting, of your State, to join with practi- 
cally all the other members of the Wisconsin Congressional 
delegation in the work of bringing about such an embargo. 

"Believing that you feel with hundreds of thousands of our 
members that the United States should at least have no hand 
in the war, and should not be reaping a harvest of blood- 
stained money, and that you stand for a real and genuine neu- 
trality for this nation, we are sending you with this letter some 
letters addressed to Senator Husting. 

''They are ready to be dated and signed and should then be 
placed in separate envelopes and mailed as personal letters." 

JSTo attention was paid to them at that time; but in April 
the State Department was exchanging notes with Germany on 
the Sussex incident, the country was aroused, and there came 
to Senator Husting a flood of telegrams, from ^tTew York, Mary- 
land, Ohio, Blinois, Missouri, and places in Wisconsin hun- 
dreds of miles apart, all dated April 24, 1916, and drafted 
according to one or another of seven forms. One form read: 



236 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

"Your constituents urge and expect you to stand like a rock 
against the passing frenzy of insane and cruel folly on the 
part of the small portion of interested persons who are clamor- 
ing for war. We want peace. JSTothing warrants any other 
action." 

Another form read: "Will you let me assure you that the 
great majority of your constituents stand for peace, believe 
war now unnecessary and uncalled for, and will resent being 
participated into the European conflict." Scores upon scores 
in this form coming from j)laces far apart contained the word 
"participated," showing they had a common origin. A letter 
and inclosure from a constituent to Senator Husting j^roved 
they all originated with the American Embargo Conference. 

The letter from the Conference read : 

'Teeling confident that as one of the patriotic citizens of the 
United States you are anxious to see this country held out of the 
present terrible war in Europe, we are making this extraordinary 
appeal to you because we know from the most positive information 
that is possible to be obtained at this time that the situation war- 
rants it. 

"We cannot find words strong enough to tell you of the gravity 
of the situation, and we assure you in the most earnest manner pos- 
sible that the only way in which this country can keep from becoming 
involved is an immediate and great expression of the real sentiment 
of the people of the country who want peace. 

"We also most solemnly assure you that it is too late to mail an 
expression of this sentiment to Washington. It must be telegraphed. 
We have prepared night letters to be signed by the voters. At the 
top of this sheet we ask that you hold these sheets until we give you 
notice to telegraph them. Now we ask that you have the night let- 
ters signed as rapidly as possible and that you send them from the 
telegraph office without a moment's delay. . . . Then send the bills 
to us and a check will be mailed you immediately." ^ 

Inclosed in this letter was a sheet on which were seven 
forms of night letters, from which had been selected the forms 
of the "two or three hundred thousand" telegrams received 
by the Senator. Other Senators had been favored in the same 
way. A Senator from Kansas had that morning received 35 
on form one; 27 on form two; 15 on form three; 9 on form 

* Congressional Record, 64th Congress, 1st Session, p. 6891. 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 237 

four; 30 on form five, and 20 on form six, all from Kansas 
Citj^ Another Senator had received 4,000. 

}_Well aware that his plan would be bitterly opposed in Con- 
gress, in his own party and by a large part of the people, espe- 
cially in the Middle West, the President in January, 1916, set 
forth on a speaking tour that he might in this way explain the 
need of national preparedness and appeal for support directly 
to his fellow countrymen. The first speeches were made at 
New York City on January 27, one before the Clerical Con- 
ference of the New York Federation of Churches, another be- 
fore the Motion Picture Board of Trade, and the third before 
the Railw^ay Business Men's Association. 

January 28, the President set off on his tour of the Middle 
West, spoke at Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and on the thirty- 
first reached Milwaukee. There he was in the hotbed of 
Socialism, in a city whose population was largely German- 
American and strongly pro-German. To them he said: 

"I know that you are depending upon me to keep this nation out 
of war. So far I have done so, and I pledge you my word that, God 
helping me, I will — if it is possible. 

"You have laid another duty upon me. You have bidden me see 
that nothing stains or impairs the honor of the United States. And 
that is a matter not within my control. That depends upon what 
others do, not upon what the Government of the United States does, 
and therefore there may be at any moment a time when I cannot both 
preserve the honor and the peace of the United States. Do not exact 
of me an impossible and contradictory thing, but stand ready, and 
insist that everybody who represents you should stand ready, to pro- 
vide the means for maintaining the honor of the United States." 

Prom Milwaukee the President passed to Chicago and 
Des Moines, where he said to the crowd that gathered to hear 
him: "America cannot be an ostrich with its head in the sand. 
America cannot shut itself out from the rest of the world, 
because all the dangers at this present moment, and they are 
many, come from her contact with the rest of the world." He 
had not come to tell his hearers that there was danger to our 
national life from anything the Government might do, but 
to tell them that "there is danger to our national life from 
what other nations may do." And if something did happen, 



'238 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

"do you want the situation to be such that all the President 
can do is to write messages, to utter words of protest ? If these 
breaches of international law which are in daily danger of 
occurring should touch the very vital interests and honor of 
the United States, do you wish to do nothing about it ? Do 
you wish to have all the world say that the flag of the United 
States, which we all love, can be stained with impunity ?" 

At Davenport the President denied that munition makers 
had anything to do with the policy of the Government. At 
Kansas City he said "there may come a time, I pray God it 
may never come, but it may, in spite of everything we can do, 
come upon us, and come of a sudden, when I shall have to ask, 
'I have had my say, who stands back of me V Where is the 
force by which the majority and rights of the United States 
are to be maintained and assorted ?" 

"I have seen editorials written in more than one part of 
the United States sneering at the number of notes that were 
being written from the State Department to the foreign Gov- 
ernments and asking, 'Why does not the Government act V And 
in those same papers I have seen editorials against the prepara- 
tion to do anything effective if those notes are not regarded. 
Is that the temper of the United States ?" 

When St. Louis was reached the tour came to an end. 
There the President said: "So far as America is concerned, no 
man need go about preaching peace. We are disciples of peace 
already. But suppose my neighbor's house is on fire, and 
my roof is of combustible shingles, and the fire eats into the 
wood?" The danger was not from within, but from without. 
"And I am bound to tell you that danger is constant and imme- 
diate, not because anything new has happened, not because 
there has been any change in our international relationship 
within the last several weeks or months, but because the danger 
comes with every turn of events." Commanders of submarines 
had their instructions; but one reckless commander of a sub- 
marine, putting his own construction on what his Government 
told him to do, "might set the world on fire." . . . "Speaking 
with all solemnity, I assure you there is not a day to be lost. 
. . . This month should not go by without something decisive 
being done." ' 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 239 

The return of the President to Washington was quickly 
followed by the resignation of Mr. Lindley M. Garrison, Sec- 
retary of War, Since the opening of the year the House Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs had been busy on a bill for national 
defense. Hearings had been held, experts had testified, and 
though they differed on many points, agTeed that the military 
power of the country should be greatly increased at once. As 
to what should be the strength of the Regular Army differences 
in opinion were slight. But great differences existed as to the 
character of the force by which it was to be supported. Gen- 
eral Scott, Chief of Staff, was for a continental army raised 
according to the plan of Secretary Garrison and explained by 
the President in his speech at the opening of the session. Mr. 
Hay, Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, and the 
x^ational Guard Association, which maintained an active lobby, 
were for the federalization of the National Guard. Against 
this plan Mr. Garrison, January 12, 1916, protested in a letter 
to the President. The military part of the program of national 
defense, he said, was facing a critical juncture. Unless the 
situation was dealt with promptly and effectively, there was 
no hope of good results. Nothing but a national force under 
exclusive control and authority of the National Government 
would be effective. The plan of Mr. Hay to add a few thou- 
sands to the strength of the regular army; a few regiments 
of artillery to that branch of the service; abandon the idea of 
a federal force of national volunteers, and grant direct aid to 
the enlisted men and officers of the State troops would never 
succeed. The issue must be clearly drawn. It had nothing 
whatever to do with the number of men or with the way of 
raising them. It was between two absolutely different systems. 
One was based on the nation's undertaking on its own respon- 
sibility to raise and manage the national troops. The other, 
the system in use ever since the founding of the Government, 
was to rely on the States to do this thing for the nation, leaving 
the Government to rely on a military force it does not raise, 
does not officer and does not control. 

The President replied, in substance, that he was ready 
to abandon the plan of the Secretary for a continental volun- 
teer force and accept that of Mr. Hay for a Federalized militia 



240 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

if it would accomplish the desired result. Mr. Garrison then, 
January 14, 1916, restated his position briefly and forcibly, 
and January 17 the President replied that he understood his 
views. ''You believe, as I do, that the chief thing necessary 
is that we should have a trained citizen reserve, and that the 
training, organization and control of that reserve should be 
under immediate Federal direction. But apparently ,1 have 
not succeeded in making my own position equally clear to you, 
though I feel sure that I have made it perfectly clear to Mr. 
Hay. It is that I am not irrevocably or dogmatically com- 
mitted to any one plan of providing the nation with such a 
reserve, and am certainly willing to discuss alternative 
proposals." 

The President returned from his western tour on Febru- 
ary 4. Mr. Garrison was to speak on preparedness on 
February 10, and lest, in urging his plan, he should be acting 
contrary to the policy of the President, he wrote again on 
February 9, restated his position and asked from the Presi- 
dent a final expression of his views. There were two matters 
of pressing importance on which in the course of his speech 
he must positively and definitely declare himself. One was 
the Clarke amendment to the Philippine bill. The other was 
the question of a continental army or a Federalized militia. 
He considered reliance on militia for national defense an 
unjustifiable imperiling of the nation's safety. ISTot only was 
it a sham in itself, but if enacted into law would prevent, 
perhaps destroy, the opportunity to obtain measures of real 
national defense. He could neither accept it, nor acquiesce 
in its acceptance. If the President did not agree with him 
on these matters, then he could not with propriety remain the 
seeming representative of the administration in respect to them. 

The President answered and said that he was not yet 
convinced that the Hay plan would prove acceptable; that it 
was his duty to keep an open mind ; that the Clarke amend- 
ment seemed unwise at the present time, but it would be most 
inadvisable to take the position that he must disapprove "should 
both houses concur in a bill embodying that amendment." 
When this reply reached him Mr. Garrison at once resigned, 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 211 

and after a delay of a few weeks Mr. ^Newton D. Baker became 
Secretary of War. 

Mr. Garrison resigned on February 10, 1916, and on that 
day Count von Bernstortf and Baron Zwiedinek appeared at 
the Department of State and announced that the German 
and Austro-Hungarian Governments woud instruct their sub- 
marine commanders that, after February 29, they were to treat 
armed merchantmen as auxiliary cruisers. Secretary Lansing 
some weeks before, on January 18, addressed an informal note 
to the representatives of the Entente Powers in Washington, 
urging that their Governments agree to disarm merchant 
vessels. 

As obtained ''from a European correspondent" and pub- 
lished by the Chicago Herald, the text of the note set forth that 
the Government was deeply interested to bring to an end the 
dangers to life which attended the use of submarines for the 
destruction of enemy commerce. Despite the appalling loss 
of life among noncombatants, without regard to age or sex, 
the Secretary did not think that a belligerent should be de- 
prived of the proper use of submarines, but believed that 
submarine warfare might be brought within the general rules 
of international law and the principles of humanity by the 
adoption of a formula or rule which would appeal to the sense 
of justice of all belligerents. As a basis for such a rule he 
suggested that a noncombatant had a right to traverse the seas 
on a merchant ship flying a belligerent flag: a right to rely on 
the observance of the rules of international law, a right to 
know that if the vessel on which he sailed were approached by 
a warship of another belligerent it would not be attacked with- 
out being ordered to stop. When so ordered by an enemy 
submarine it should stop immediately. If, after the order to 
stop, a merchantman attempted to resist or flee it might be 
fired on, but the firing should end when the vessel ceased to 
resist or flee. If impossible to put a crew aboard or convey the 
prize to port it might be sunk, provided crew and passengers 
had been removed to a place of safety. 

The Secretary was not unmindful of the obstacles which 
would be met with by the submarine. Prior to 1915 commerce 
destroying on the high sea had been done by cruisers heavily 



242 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

armed, and international law allowed merchantmen to carry 
arms for defense. 

This right of merchantmen ships to carry guns, he said, 
"seems to have been predicated on the superior defensive 
strength of ships of war, and the limitation of armament to 
have been dependent on the fact that it could not be used 
effectively in offense against enemy naval vessels, while it could 
defend merchantmen against the generally inferior armament of 
piratical ships and privateers." Submarines had changed these 
relations. They depended for protection on their power of 
submerging and were almost defenseless in point of construc- 
tion. "Even a merchant ship carrying a small caliber gun 
would be able to use it effectively for offense against a sub- 
marine." Pirates and sea rovers had been swept from the great 
channels of trade and privateering had been abolished. Plac- 
ing guns on merchant ships in these days of submarines, there- 
fore, must be in order to render the merchantman superior in 
force to the submarine, and to prevent warning, visit and 
search. "Any armament, therefore, on a merchant vessel 
would seem to have the character of an offensive armament." 
Under such conditions, if a submarine be required to stop, visit 
and search a merchantman, and, if necessary to destroy her, put 
her passengers and crew in a place of safety, it was not just 
to require her when so doing to expose herself "to almost cer- 
tain destruction by the guns on board the merchant vessel." 

The Secretary ended by saying: "J may add that my Gov- 
ernment is impressed by the reasonableness of the argument 
that a merchant vessel carrying an armament of any sort, in 
view of the character of submarine warfare and the defensive 
weakness of undersea craft, should be held to be an auxiliary 
cruiser, and so treated by a neutral as well as by a belligerent 
government and is seriously considering instructing its officials 
accordingly." 

It was in hope of forcing the Allied Government to reject 
this note that Germany and Austria bade their representatives 
serve the notice of February 10, that armed merchant ships 
would be treated as auxiliary cruisers and sunk on sight with 
passengers and crew on board, and that on February 14 Mr. 
Gerard forwarded from Berlin a note verhale and a long 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 243 

"Memorandum" on the treatment of armed merchantmen. 
The memorandum was accompanied by twelve exhibits consist- 
ing chiefly of a digest of nineteen cases in which Allied mer- 
chant ships, it was claimed, had fired on submarines, and papers 
of a "confidential" nature found on two captured British ships.. 
The "German Government," it was said, ''had no doubt that 
a merchantman assumes a warlike character by armament with 
guns, regardless of whether the guns are intended for defense 
or attack." Particular attention was called to the words 
"enemy merchantmen armed with guns no longer have any 
right to be considered as peaceful vessels of conunerce." There 
fore, the German naval forces would receive orders, within 
a short time, to treat such vessels as belligerents. 

"The German Government brings this status of affairs to 
the knowledge of the neutral Powers, in order that they may 
warn their nationals against continuing to intrust their persons 
or property to the armed merchantmen of Powers at war with 
the German Empire." 

The controversy now shifted from the Department of State 
to the Halls of Congress, where on February 15 a Senator from 
South Dakota submitted a long resolution. In substance it was 
that the Senate viewed with anxious concern the order of the 
German Admiralty that, after February 29, armed merchant 
ships might be sunk without warning; that if put into effect 
it would be a more serious menace to neutral commerce than 
any act of the belligerents in the present war ; that any recogni- 
tion by the United States that necessities of the war or the 
exigencies of submarine warfare justified the order would be 
an abandonment of our contention for the freedom of the seas, 
and a contravention of our policy set forth in our notes to the 
British and German Governments on September 26 and N^o- 
vember 7, 1914, and that at this time neither the United States 
nor any other neutral should acquiesce in the order. ^ 

The resolution was submitted under the belief that the 
closing words of Secretary Lansing's note of January 18 stated 
the intent of the Government to accept the German contention 
that armed merchantmen should be considered auxiliary 
cruisers. But on February 15, the day on which the Senator 
' Congressional Record, 64tli Congress, 1st session, p. 2564. 



244 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

submitted his resolution, the President reversed his policy and 
from the Department of State came a semi-official statement of 
a very different sort. In substance it was that the Government 
did not expect to change the present rule of international law 
regarding armed merchant ships without the consent of all the 
belligerents, that meantime their merchant ships had a lawful 
right to carry arms for defense, and that the right of our citi- 
zeng to travel on such vessels would not be impaired. 

|_A fear of war with Germany now fell on Congress, a deter- 
mination to check the President grew stronger and stronger, 
and all signs pointed to a serious break between the Executive 
and Legislative branches of the Government. American citi- 
zens, Congressmen held, should be forbidden to travel on armed 
ships of the belligerents. To this surrender of their rights the 
President was determined not to submit, and at a conference 
with the Democratic leaders on February 21 made his position 
quite clear. 

l^evertheless, on February 22, resolutions were introduced 
in the Senate and the House. That offered by Mr. McLemore, 
a member of the House from Texas, was preceded by a long 
preamble setting forth that, whereas two of the Powers at war 
had informed all neutrals that after February 29 armed vessels 
of their enemies, naval, or merchantmen armed for defense, 
would be attacked on sight; that, whereas Germany had sub- 
mitted to the United States photographic facsimiles of alleged 
secret orders of the British Government authorizing such de- 
fensive armament to be used for offensive purposes and manned 
by naval officers and men and concealed and disguised when in 
neutral ports; that, whereas the Government of the United 
States had no desire to dictate to any Power whether it should 
or should not arm its merchant ships, had no interest in the 
success or failure of such ships in using their arms to destroy 
an enemy's submarines or naval vessels, had no concern in the 
success or failure of submarines in destroying merchantmen and 
could not look on any engagement between any armed ships of 
opposing belligerents, no matter how such ships may be desig- 
nated or disguised, as other than a naval engagement; and, 
whereas Germany and Austria-Hungary had given assurances 
that unarmed ships carrying noncombatants would not be sunk 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 215 

unless the noncombatant passengers could be removed to a place 
of safety. 

Therefore, the resolution read, "the House of Representa- 
tives hereby solemnly does request the President to warn all 
American citizens, within the borders of the United States or its 
possessions, or elsewhere, to refrain from traveling on any or 
all ships of any and all the Powers now or in future at war, 
which ship or ships shall mount guns, whether such ship be 
frankly avowed a part of the naval forces of the Power whose 
flag it flies, or shall be called a merchant ship or otherwise, 
and whether such gun or guns or other armament be called 
^offensive' or 'defensive,' and in case American citizens do 
travel on such armed belligerent ships, that they do so at their 
own risk.'_^ 

The rest of the resolution provided that when the President 
or Secretary of State came into possession of the "actual memo- 
randum" of the German Government "concerning the secret 
orders of the British Government," it should at once be sent 
to the Speaker and laid before the House to assist it "in per- 
forming its constitutional duty of advising the President of 
the United States" with regard to foreign relations. 

^_^n the same day, February 22, on which Mr. McLemore 
introduced his warning resolution, Mr. Fuller of Illinois 
brought forward another. Because it was "manifestly unsafe" 
for American citizens to travel "on belligerent ships that are 
armed," and inasmuch as "the taking of such chances at this 
time may involve this country in serious trouble in its efforts 
to protect American lives," and as it was the "earnest desire 
of all our people that this country shall remain absolutely neu- 
tral," therefore the President was to be "authorized and re- 
quested to issue a proclamation warning all American citizens 
of the great danger of taking passage on any belligerent ship 
that is armed or that carried munitions of war, and requesting 
them for their own safety and in the interest of this country's 
neutrality to refrain from so doing." 

Both resolutions went to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

The day following their introduction was one of wild hys- 
teria in Congress. Suddenly the House became panic-stricken 
from fear that the new position of the President would lead to 



24() THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

war. ''Keep out of war" was demanded on every side. The 
party of the President was in open revolt. In the cloakrooms, 
in the corridors, on the floor, the President was bitterly attacked 
for his determination to stand firm in behalf of American 
rights even if war resulted. Nothing but the utmost exer- 
tions of the administration supporters prevented immediate 
action. Late in the afternoon the Democratic members of the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs met and decided to send a dele- 
gation to the White House to tell the President that a resolu- 
tion warning American citizens to keep off armed merchant 
vessels would surely be passed unless he changed his position. 
The Democratic floor leader was reported to have said that 
forty-eight hours would be allowed the President in which to 
make this change. The revolt spread even to the Senate, where 
Senator Gore, of Oklahoma, announced that he would introduce 
a resolution forbidding Americans to travel on armed merchant- 
men^ j 

That the position taken by the President at the conference 
on February 21 might not be misunderstood. Senator Stone, 
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, gave 
his understanding of it in a leter to the President. This was: 

That while you would deeply regret the rejection by Great Britain 
of Mr. Lansing's proposal for the disarmament of merchant vessels of 
the Allies, with the understanding that Germany and her Allies would 
not fire upon a merchant ship if she hauled to when summoned, not 
attempting to escape, and that the German warships would only exer- 
cise the admitted right of visitation and capture, and would not 
destroy the captured vessel except in circumstances that reasonably 
assured the safety of passengers and crew, you were of the opinion 
that if Great Britain and her Allies rejected the proposal and insisted 
upon arming her merchant ships she would be within her rights under 
international law. Also that you would feel disposed to allow armed 
vessels to be cleared from our ports ; also that you are not favorably 
disposed to the idea of this Government taking any definite steps 
towards preventing American citizens from embarking upon armed 
merchant vessels. Furthermore, that you would consider it your duty, 
if a German warship should fire upon an armed merchant vessel of 
the enemy upon which American citizens were passengers, to hold 
Germany to strict account. 

Numerous members of the Senate and House have called to dis- 
cuss this subject with ma I have felt that the members of the two 
Houses who are to deal with this grave question were entitled to 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 247 

know the situation we are confronting as I understand it to be. I 
think I should say to you that the members of both Houses feel 
deeply concerned and disturbed by what they read and hear. I have 
heard some talk to the effect that some are saying that after all it 
may be possible that the program of preparedness, so called, has some 
relation to just such a situation as we are now called upon to meet. 
I have counseled all who talked with me to keep cool; that the 
whole business is still the subject of diplomacy and that you are 
striving to the utmost to bring about some peaceable adjustment, and 
that in the meantime Congress should be careful not to "ball up" a 
diplomatic situation by any kind of hasty and ill-considered action. 
. . . As much and deeply as I would hate to radically disagree with 
you, I find it difficult from my sense of duty and responsibility to 
consent to plunge this nation into the vortex of this world war. 

President Wilson that same day, February 24, replied: 
"You are right in assuming that I shall do everything in my 
power to keep the United States out of war." For the mo- 
ment the announced intention of the Central European Powers 
to sink all armed merchant vessels at sight seemed to threaten 
"insuperable difficulties." But the apparent meaning of the 
order was so manifestly at odds with explicit assurances re- 
cently given that he was sure later explanations would "put a 
different aspect upon it." 

But in any event our duty is clear. No nation, no group of 
nations, has the right, while war is in progress, to alter or disregard 
the principles which all nations have agreed upon in mitigation of 
the horrors and sufferings of war ; and if the clear rights of American 
citizens should ever unhappily be abridged or denied by any such 
nation we should, it seems to me, have in honor no choice as to what 
our own course should be. 

For my part, I cannot consent to any abridgment of the rights 
of American citizens in any respect. The honor and self-respect of 
the nation are involved. We covet peace and shall preserve it at any 
cost but the loss of honor. To forbid our people to exercise their 
rights for fear we might be called upon to vindicate them would be 
a deep humiliation indeed. It would be an implicit — but not an 
explicit — acquiescence in the violation of the rights of mankind 
everywhere and of whatever nation or allegiance. It would be a 
deliberate abdication of our hitherto proud position as spokesman 
even amidst the turmoil of war for the law and right. 

February 25 the Speaker, the majority leader of the House 
and the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, met 



'21.8 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the President and found him fully determined to stand bv the 
position taken in his letter to Senator Stone. Said the Speaker, 
in a statement made in behalf of the Democratic leaders who 
conferred with the President: ''The sum and substance of the 
conference, outside of an explanation made as to the temper of 
the Ilouse, regarding the diplomatic situation with Germany 
and some argument on both sides, is fully set out in Senator 
Stone's letter to the President and the President's reply to 
Senator Stone.'' 

Wo explained to the President how the Ilouse felt in our judgment. 
I told the President that this warning resolution would carry two 
to one if tliey ever got a chance for a vote. Some enthusiastic gentle- 
men. I said, thought it would carrj'^ three to one. 

Of course there was a great deal of talk about international law 
regarding the rights of Americans on the seas and precedents. At 
the conclusion of the conference it was very clear to all that the 
President stands on his letter to Senator Stone. 

But there are rumors which were discussed that Germany may 
postpone enforcement of the new admiralty order to sink armed ships, 
from March 1, either to April 1 or the middle of March. I think the 
chances are that Germany will postpone this threatened porformance. 
This will give more time for consideration of this nuitter. 

In the House the President's letter, the flood of telegrams 
that poured in upon members from all parts of the country 
demanding that he be supported, the belief that the conduct 
of the House on the previous two days might stiifen the atti- 
tude of Germany, all contributed to produce a change of feel- 
ing and greatly lessen the chances of the passage of a resolution 
of warning. To this change Mr. Bryan contributed by a 
telegram. 

I honestly hope that Congress will speedily announce legislation 
refusing passports to Americans traveling on belligerent ships, or still 
better, refusing clearance to belligerent ships carrying American 
passengers. 

No owner of belligerent ships will claim that he has the right to 
safeguard a contraband cargo with American lives, and no citizen 
should be permitted to endanger the peace of the nation at a time 
like this. Ours is the greatest. of neutral nations, and will probably be 
the mediator when the time comes for mediation. It would be a crime 
against civilization, as well as against our own people, to become 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 249 

involved in this war, and thus loan our array and money to a European 
monarch to use in settling his quarrels. 

If Congress has the right to declare war, it certainly has the right 
to promote peace hy restraining citizens from taking unnecessary 
risks. A mayor keeps the people of his city out of the danger zone 
during a riot. Can our Government afford to do less when the world 
is in riot? 

In the Senate Mr. Gore offered a concurrent resolution, 
that it was the sense of Congress, "vested as it is with the sole 
power to declare war, that all persons owing allegiance to the 
Unite<l States should, on behalf of their own safety and the 
vital interests of the United States, forbear to exercise the right 
of travel as passengers upon any armed vessel of any belligerent 
Power, whether such vessel be armed for offensive or defensive 
purposes; and it is the further sense of the Congress that no 
passport should be issued or renewed by the Secretary of State 
or by any one acting under him, to be used by any person owing 
allegiance to the United States for the purpo.se of travel upon 
any such armed vessel of a belligerent Power." 

Senator Jones in the course of the day offered a very dif- 
ferent sort of resolution. It reads : "That it is the sense of the 
Senate of the United States of America that any issue claimed 
to affect the national honor should be referred for its deci- 
sion to the Congress of the United States and no ultimatum 
should be sent to any belligerent Power and no severance of 
diplomatic relations be brought about by Executive action until 
after the advice and consent of Congress." 

iln London the President's letter found hearty approval. 
The Times was pleased to note that he stood "immovably true 
to his lofty moral attitude." How far lie could carry with him 
the opinion of his countrymen was not a matter for specula- 
tion. iSTevertheless, he deserved credit for standing manfully 
to his guns. The Post remarked tliat "it is the fate of America, 
whether it will or not, to make a choice between her own God 
and Germany's idols." The Chronicle found in the President's 
words "the right ring." He had "made plain to the whole 
world that the United States is unshakable in its resolve to 
reject the impudent demands of Germany." 

How the President viewed the uprising in Congress was 



250 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

believed to be made clear by some remarks iu a speech before 
the Gridiron Club of Wasliington on the evening of Febru- 
ary 26. 

"The point in international affairs," he said, "never lies 
along the lines of expediency. It always rests in the field 
of principle. The United States was not founded upon any 
principles of expediency; it was founded upon a profound prin- 
ciple of human liberty and of humanity, and whenever it bases 
its policy upon any other foundations than those it builds on the 
sand and not upon solid rock." He would "a great deal rather 
know" what men were "talking about around quiet firesides 
all over this country than what they are talking about in the 
cloakrooms of Congress. I woukl a great deal ratiicr know what 
the men on the trains and by the wayside and in the shops and 
on the farms are thinking about and yearning for than hear 
any of the vociferous proclamations of policy which it is so 
easy to hear and so easy to read by picking up any scrap of 
printed paper. . . . 

"America ought to keep out of this war. She ought to 
keep out of this war at the sacrifice of everything except this 
single thing upon which her character and history are founded, 
her sense of humanity and justice." 

The leaders in the Senate and the House having prevented 
any action on the resolutiims of warning before them, the 
President on February 29, in a letter to the ranking member 
of the House Conmiittee on Rules, urged that an "early vote" 
be taken. 

"The report that there are divided coimsels iu Congress in 
regard to the foreign policy of the country," he wrote Mr. 
Pou, "is being made industrious use of in foreign capitals. 
I believe that the report is false; but so long as it is anywhere 
credited it cannot fail to do the gi-eatest harm and expose the 
country to the utmost serious risk. I therefore feel justified 
in asking that your committee will permit me to urge an early 
vote upon the resolutions with regard to travel on armed mer- 
chantmen, which have recently been so much talked about, in 
order that there may be afforded an innnediate opportunity 
for full public discussion and action upon them and that all 
doubts and conjectures may be sw('[)t away and our foreign 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 251 

policy once more cleared of damaging misunderstandings." 
What the President wished was now quite clear. He did 
not wish a vote of confidence, but a direct vote on the 
McLemore, or some similar resolution, declaring that Ameri- 
cans ought not to travel on armed merchantmen. He wished 
every member of the House to go on record when the vote was 
taken that the country might know who stood by the Govern- 
ment, and who sought to embarrass it, in its diplomatic deal- 
ings with Germany and Austria. 

Leaders in both Houses were surprised and embarrassed. 
With great difficulty they had a few days before prevented 
action on the very resolutions they were now asked to bring 
to a vote. Conferences were held with the President, but he 
did not yield, and March 3, 1916, the Senate took up the reso- 
lution offered l)y Senator Gore and an immediate vote was 
demanded. Mr. (Jlore, rising to a point of personal privilege, 
then offered a substitute which roads : 

Resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring : 
That the sinking by a German submarine, without notice or warning, 
of an armed merchant vessel of her public enemy, resulting in the 
death of a citizen of the United States, would constitute a just and 
sufficient cause of war between the United States and the German 
Empire. 

But the Senate leaders in their haste to end the business 
forced an immediate vote on both resolutions taken together 
and, amid a scene of gi-eat confusion and disorder, the roll was 
called on the question of laying the resolutions on the table. 
The yeas were 68 ; the nays 14, and the motion was carried. 
Then for the first time the Senators realized that in their haste 
they had tabled a resolution declaring that if a German subma- 
rine, without warning, sank an armed merchantman and an 
American citizen thereby lost liis life, the act would be a just 
cause of war. This was the very principle for which the 
President was contending. 

As soon as the vote in the Senate was known in the House 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs voted to report back the 
McLemore resolution with a recommendation that it be tabled 
because, "Under the practice and precedent in this country, 



252 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the conduct of diplomatic negotiations has been left with the 
President, and with this practice the committee does not feel 
it proper for the House of Representatives to interfere. We 
know that if the President reaches a point in any negotiations 
with foreign Governments at which he believes he has exhausted 
his powers in the premises he will, in the usual way, report 
all facts and circumstances to Congress for its consideration." 

March 7, the struggle began and when it ended with the 
roll call on the question of agreeing to the motion to lay the 
McLemore resolution on the table the yeas were 276 and the 
nays 142. 

The States, all of whose representatives voted no, were 
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, ISTebraska. The States, all of 
whose representatives voted yes, were Maine, North and South 
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Idaho. As 
far as Congressional interference was concerned, the armed 
merchantmen issue, it was said, was settled. There were those, 
indeed, who held that tabling the resolutions was not decisive, 
and among these was Mr. Bryan. ''The question was presented 
in such a way," he said to an audience at Columbus, Ohio, "that 
there is little significance in the vote. It does not represent 
the sentiment in Congress as to the wisdom of Americans trav- 
eling upon belligerent merchantmen. Had this question been 
presented and the opinion of Congress asked upon it, there is 
no doubt that a majority of both Senate and House would 
express themselves in favor of preventing Americans from trav- 
eling into the danger zone on belligerent ships." 

The people, taking the words of the President, that he would 
rather know what men were saying around their firesides than 
what was said in the cloakrooms of Congress, as an invitation 
to give their views, now sent letters and telegrams by thousands 
to the White House expressing approval of his stand and con- 
veying congratulations on his victory. 

The day following the action of the Senate on the resolu- 
tion of Senator Gore, March 4, 1916, the Chairman of the 
Senate Committee on Military Affairs reported a bill "for 
making further and more effectual provision for national de- 
fense." As explained by the Chairman, Senator Chamberlain 
of Oregon, the bill provided for a regular army of 178,000 



PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 253 

men; a federal volunteer force of 261,000 to be trained for 
one month each year in summer camps, a strictly federal force 
not under the control of Governors of the States ; a federalized 
National Guard of 250,000 men; officers' reserve corps, and a 
reserve officers' training corps composed of students of col- 
leges and schools where military training was given the boys. 
On the sixth of March Mr. Hay, Chairman of the House Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs, presented a bill providing for a 
regular army of 143,000 ; a federalized I^ational Guard which 
in five years would number 400,000 men; and civilian train- 
ing camps from which would come another 100,000 trained 
fighting men. 

While the bills were under debate our countrymen were 
given a fine illustration of the need of preparedness. March 9, 
a band of Villistas, believed to be acting under orders from 
Villa, crossed our Mexican border, entered New Mexico, raided 
the town of Columbus, and killed eight soldiers and nine 
civilians, and the President at once announced that troops 
would be sent in pursuit of Villa to capture him and end his 
forays, and that this would be done in friendly aid of the 
authorities of Mexico and with scrupulous respect for the sov- 
ereignty of that republic. Carranza at once proposed an agree- 
ment under which the military forces of Mexico should be 
allowed to chase bandits or outlaws across the border into the 
United States, in return for permission for the military forces 
of the United States to cross the border into Mexico. March 13, 
our Government agreed to the proposal, and March 15 some 
12,000 men under General Pershing crossed the border. Car- 
ranza on March 17 protested; complained that a false inter- 
pretation had been put on his note of the tenth; that no 
notification had been given to the Mexican Government, nor 
to the civil and military authorities of the region through 
which the troops were to pass, and, March 19, refused to allow 
supplies to be sent over the Northwestern Railway to General 
Pershing. While negotiations dragged along, a force of 
Villistas was routed by American cavalry at San Geronimo, 
March 29 ; fights and skirmishes occurred in many places dur- 
ing April, and May 5 some two hundred bandits crossed the 
border and attacked Glenn Springs, Texas. Again the Presi- 



254 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

dent was forced to act, and May 9 called the organized militia 
of Texas, Arizona, and ISTew Mexico into service, and sent them 
with 4,000 regulars to the border. 

With this illustration of our means of defense before them, 
the Senate and House meanwhile labored on their bills for 
preparedness. March 28, the House adopted the Hay Bill. 
April 18, the Senate returned it with amendments providing 
for a regular army on a peace footing of 250,000 men, for the 
construction of a nitrate plant to cost $15,000,000, and for the 
establishment of reserve officers' training corps at universities, 
colleges and schools. From the conferences which followed 
came at last a bill providing for a regular army of 186,000; 
a federalized National Guard to number 425,000; officers' 
reserve corps for the regular army; enlisted reserve corps to 
supply men to the engineer, signal and quartermaster corps, 
medical and ordnance departments ; and reserve officers' train- 
ing corps at schools, colleges and universities. June 3, the 
President signed the bill. 



CHAPTEE X 

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 

Considering the submarine dispute as settled, by the last 
of the Sussex notes the German Government bade Ambassador 
von Bernstorii" define its position on another matter fast becom- 
ing serious, the violation of our neutrality by its consular officers 
and agents. The Ambassador accordingly, May 18, 1916, 
announced that the German Government was opposed to all 
plots and propaganda leading to violation of our laws and 
our neutrality. 

"In consequence," he said, "of cases that have occurred 
of late, the German Ambassador has sent, instructions to all 
the German consuls in the United States strongly to impress 
on German citizens living in their districts that it is their duty 
scrupulously to observe the laws of the states in which they 
reside." 

German consuls needed the warning quite as much as "citi- 
zens living in their districts." It will be remembered that on 
December 22, 1915, Captain von Papeu sailed from !N^ew York 
on the Oscar II. All went well with him until the steamer, 
January 2, 1916, touched at Falmouth, where the British 
seized his papers. When von Papen, according to the man- 
aging editor of World's Work, was about to depart and was 
packing his papers in the office of the Austrian Consulate- 
General in New York, the stenographer, a young woman placed 
in the office by the Providence Journal as its secret agent, 
reported the contents of the box and was instructed to so mark 
the case that it could be identified later. "The day it was 
nailed up for shipment," so runs the story, "she ate her 
luncheon seated on the top of it. When she was in the midst 
of her meal von Papen came in. He asked if he might share 
her sandwiches. She consented. They sat on the box together. 

255 



256 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

He grew sentimental. She did not discourage his sentimental 
mood. At its height she took a red crayon pencil from her 
hair and in a dreamy way drew on the packing box the outline 
of two hearts entwined. The susceptible von Papen, in the 
spirit of the moment, seized the pencil and with his own hand 
drew an arrow piercing them." And so the box was marked 
and when the Oscar II touched at Falmouth and the secret 
service agents inspected the cargo the box was easily identified 
and seized. 

Von Papen at once telegraphed to the American Embassy 
at London asking the American Ambassador to request the 
German Ambassador at Washington to protest to the Depart- 
ment of State because the British authorities had opened his 
private papers. They were found to consist of letters from 
Germans in this country and abroad, bank books, check books 
and counterfoils showing some five hundred items of expen- 
diture. 

Some were of no importance. Others were records of 
payments to German spies and agents in our country; to a 
spy named Kupferle, who killed himself in a British prison; 
to the "War Intelligence Bureau," $2,300; to Werner Horn, 
who a few weeks later attempted to destroy the bridge at 
Vanceboro, $700; to the German consul at Seattle, some two 
weeks before the explosion at that city, May 20, 1915, $500. 
During January, 1915, von Papen received from Ambassador 
von Bernstorff $6,400, and spent $5,000. 

Among the letters was one from Baron von Meysenburg, 
the German consul at I^ew Orleans, dated December 4, 1915: 

I read with great regret that the fate of recall has, indeed, over- 
taken you. I do not suppose that you are very unhappy at being 
able to shake the dust of this unfriendly country off your feet. What 
chiefly offends me is that in always giving way to the Government 
here we have never found that they are kindly disposed to us. That 
the demand for your recall has been so sudden and belated throws 
an interesting light upon the Government here. May the day of 
reckoning also come here, and our Government find again that iron 
determination with which alone one can make an impression on this 
country. 

In another Dr. F. W. Meyer of ITew York, expressing 
regret at his departure, said: 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 257 

I had occasion yesterday to discuss recent events with some Ger- 
mans. . . . The Austrian note is, of course, matter for general quiet 
enjoyment, and the whole business can scarcely be taken tragically. 
The President this time has talked a bit too big, even for those who 
blindly support him. ... It is not surprising, in view of the fictitious 
neutrality of the President, that a term should have been put to your 
work, and you must carry back with you the knowledge that you have 
done your duty according to the best of your ability as long as it 
was possible. 

I gladly comply with your proposal to send a line from time to 
time, and it will be very pleasant to receive one from you occasionally, 
especially if by proposals you mean such as could be discussed with 
some gentlemen of the German House of Columbia University. I 
am keeping an eye on the matter especially mentioned. 

A letter from General von Bernhardi, dated April 9, 1915, 

says: 

I thank you most sincerely for your kindness in sending me a 
copy of the New York Sun, containing my two articles. I am glad 
to hear that these articles will, in your opinion, have a good eifect 
so far as that is at all possible in America. . . . 

I have now written two other articles for America. The Foreign 
Office wanted the first of these, entitled "Germany and England," 
distributed in the American Press. The other, entitled "Pangerman- 
ism," was to appear in the Chicago Tribune. . . . They will certainly 
have some sort of effect. 

I wonder [Dr. Albert from San Francisco wrote, without date] 
if our Government will respond in a suitable manner. In my opinion 
it need no longer take public opinion so much into consideration, in 
spite of its being artifically and intentionally agitated by the Press, 
and legal proceedings, so that a somewhat stiffer attitude would be 
desirable, though naturally quiet and dignified. 

Please instruct Mr. Amanuensis Igel as precisely as possible. You 
will receive then the long-intended report of expenses paid through my 
account on your behalf. 

Photographic copies of the important checks, counterfoils 
and letters were duly sent to the Department of State, and not 
long afterwards Horst von der Goltz, in charge of a Scotland 
Yard detective, arrived in ISTew York. 

From a British White Paper^ Cd 8232, it appears that 
von der Goltz arrived in England from Holland November 4, 
1914, '^offered information on projected air raids, the source 



.258 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

whence the Emden derived her information as to British ship- 
ping, and how the Leipslc obtained her coal supplies." He 
was questioned, detained, sentenced to six months' imprison- 
ment with a recommendation for deportation, for failing to 
register, served his time and was still held for deportation 
when, January 2, 1916, von Papen's papers were seized at 
Falmouth and among them was found a check dated September 
1, 1914, for $200, drawn by von Papen to the order of Bridge- 
man Taylor, under which name von der Goltz had obtained a 
false passport and sailed from New York in October, 1914, 
for Geraiany by way of Italy. 

The check was endorsed in the handwriting of von der 
Goltz who, when it was shown to him, willingly acknowledged 
the endorsement was his, and asked to be allowed to make a 
voluntary statement in writing and under oath. 

This confession, very long and very full of detail, begins 
with an account of how at the opening of the war he was 
relieved from service with a brigade of the Mexican Army, 
made his way to New York and met Captain von Papen, then 
engaged with Captain Boy-Ed in concocting a scheme to invade 
Canada with a force recruited from reservists in the United 
States, and how when this failed he was asked by von Papen 
to see two Irishmen who had proposed to Captain von Papen 
to blow up the locks of the canals connecting the Great Lakes, 
the main railway junctions, and grain elevators. It was alleged 
that by those means, as well as by wholesale distribution of 
proclamations intended to terrify the populace, combined with 
rumors of invasion judiciously circulated in the Press, a panic 
would be created in Canada, which would prevent the Dominion 
from giving aid to England. 

I received the fientlemen at my hotel, the men bringing with them 
a letter of introduction written by Captain von Papen, and received, 
after having taken them to my room, further details about the mat- 
ter, in addition to maps and diagrams showing the most vulnerable 
points of the different canals. 

I then had to get some men to help me to put the scheme into 
execution, but engaged, before I went to Baltimore, only one man, 
Charles Tucker, alias Tucsheimer, who had also some conversation 
with one of the men who proposed the scheme. 

Receiving a letter of introduction to Mr. Luederitz, consul at 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 259 

Baltimore, who was to aid me by his counsel, I went there, taking 
Tucker with me, and was received by Mr. Luederitz at the consulate 
in Baltimore. He evidently had been informed about the matter 
beforehand, for he addressed me as Major von der Goltz, although my 
letter of introduction was written in favor of Mr. Bridgeman H. Tay- 
lor. He showed very much interest, and besides supplying me with 
a revolver, my own being out of order temporarily, suggested to fur- 
nish me with a passport to be obtained tlirough the State Department, 
Washington, D. C, proving me to be B. H. Taylor, in order that I 
should be able to travel safely. He also proposed to me to make use 
of part of the crew, and one officer of a G. ship at that time in the 
harbor, and furnished me with his visit card, at the back of which 
he wrote recommending Major von der Goltz, or something to that 
effect, which I should give to the captain of the ship. While I was 
still conversing with Mr. Luederitz the captain of the ship was 
announced by a clerk, and Mr. Luederitz, telling the clerk to bring 
the gentleman in, introduced me to the captain personally. One of 
the clerks, a notary, made out an application to the State Depart- 
ment, Washington, D. C, for a passport purporting to be desired by 
a certain B. H. Taylor. All information given in this passport was 
fictitious. It was arranged that this passport was to be sent to Mr. 
Buck, New York, who was to deliver it to me. The following day, 
a Sunday, I paid, accompanied by Tucker, a visit to the ship, dined 
there, and selected the men intended to be used in the enterprise 
personally. The captain promised me to pay off the men selected 
at the consulate in a few days and to send them to New York, under 
the supervision of an officer. Everything necessary having been 
agreed upon, I left for New York to report there to Captain von 
Papen, Arrived at New York, I selected three men recommended to 
me and acquainted them with the main object of the scheme. 

As I needed money to furnish these sailors with necessaries. Cap- 
tain von Papen gave me a check payable to Bridgeman Taylor, which 
check I had cashed through the agency of an acquaintance, Mr. Stall- 
ford, member of the German Club. 

The men arrived, were quartered in several hotels, but on my 
noticing that my movements were being watched, I sent them back 
to make the detectives think the enterprise abandoned. 

I told Captain von Papen that it would be more easy for him to 
supply me with materials, dynamite, and arms cheaply, on account 
of his connections, informing him that I could not get those materials 
except at a prohibitive price. 

Von Papen then informed me that Captain Tauscher, of Krupp's 
Agency, had agreed to furnish me with these things, and told me to 
see him at his office. 

I saw Mr. Tauscher, and he gave me a letter of introduction to the 
DuPont Powder Company, recommending B. H. Taylor, and the 
company supplied me with an order to the bargee in charge of the 



260 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

dynamite barges lying on the New Jersey side near the Statue of 
Liberty. Captain Tauscher told me he would send the automatic 
pistols by messenger to Hoboken, New Jersey, to be delivered there 
to one of my agents at a certain restaurant, as he would be liable to 
punishment if he delivered them in New York without having seen 
my permit. The reasons why I did not apply to the police for a per- 
mit are obvious. 

In order to get the dynamite it was necessary for me to hire a 
motor-boat at a place near 146th Street, Harlem, and to put the 
dynamite on board of the barge in suitcases. After returning to 
the station, where I had hired the boat, I went in a taxicab, having 
two suitcases with me, to the German Club to see von Papen, who 
told me to call for the generators and the wire again at the club. I 
took the dynamite to my rooms, where I kept also a portion of the 
arms packed in small portmanteaus ready to be removed, the rest 
of the dynamite and arms being in the keeping of two of my agents, 
one of which was Mr. Fritzen, discharged from a Russian steamer, 
where he had acted in the capacity of purser; the other one being 
Mr. Busse, a commercial agent, who had lived for some time in 
England; the only other agent I employed besides C. Covani, who 
attended to me personally, Tucker not being entrusted with any of 
those things. 

Two or three days afterwards I received from Captain von Papen 
at his rooms at the club, in the presence of Fritzen and Covani, 
generators and wire, which I took to my rooms in a taxicab. 

After some days spent in conferring about the ways in which we 
would try to execute the orders given to me, we started from Central 
Station, New York, for Buffalo, Fritzen, Busse, and Tucker taking 
care of the dynamite and arms, Covani attending to me. 

Arrived at Buffalo, I hired rooms at 198 Delaware Avenue, had 
the dynamite brought there, and spent some days trying to get 
information about the precautions taken by the Canadian Govern- 
ment. Then I transported myself and three of the agents to Niagara 
Falls, New York, September 15. While still at Buffalo I received a 
telegram sent by von Papen and signed "Steffens," informing me that 
John Ryan, lawyer, had money and instructions. I went to see this 
man, but he told me he knew nothing whatever about the matter. 
I directly sent telegram to "Steffens" asking for explanation. Sep- 
tember 16, received answer, "Ryan got money." On applying to the 
man again I received money, but no instructions. 

Being thrown upon my own discretion, I determined to recon- 
noiter the terrain where I wanted to act first, but to do nothing 
further till I should receive orders. 

On September 25, received notice from Ryan to come to Buffalo. 
Having meantime received privately information that the 1st Cana- 
dian Contingent had left Valcartier Camp, I knew that I should be 
recalled, the object of the enterprise being removed. 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 261 

Without waiting for recall von der Goltz returned to Kew 
York, reported to von Papen and in October sailed for Berlin 
by way of Italy. 

All this was made known to the Department of State and 
von der Goltz, in charge of the man from Scotland Yard, was 
sent from London to testify before the Federal Grand Jury 
sitting at 'New York. He arrived March 28, 1916, on the 
Finland and within three days Captain Hans Tauscher, Charles 
Tucker, J. F. Busse and Alfred Fritzen were taken into cus- 
tody. April 17, the Federal Grand Jury indicted Captain 
Franz von Papen, Tauscher and the three others for conspiring 
to blow up the Welland Canal. The Assistant District 
Attorney at New York explained that, so long as von Papen 
was an attache of the German Embassy, it was not possible 
to bring him into the case. But now that he was out of the 
country the Government could take action so that if he ever 
returned he could be brought to book, or if he ever entered 
England or France or any other country with which we had 
an extradition treaty he could, after the war, be extradited. 

The following day, April 18, agents of the Department of 
Justice went to 60 Wall Street, New York, to the office for- 
merly used by Captain von Papen, arrested Wolf von Igel, 
and seized his papers. Taken to the Federal Building, he tele- 
phoned to von Bernstorff, who demanded his release and the 
return of the papers. He was demanded as a member of the 
Ambassador's official family and his office was declared to be 
a branch of the Embassy and as such '^extra-territorial." But 
it was proved that the office was not rented by the German 
Embassy, but by a private person, and was not "extra-terri- 
torial." As to the papers, which were at once photographed, 
Mr. Lansing offered to return such as von Bernstorff would 
identify as official or Embassy records. To this it was answered 
that they must be returned without condition, that the Ambas- 
sador could not be required to pass on them individually or 
collectively; that the fact that they were in the possession of a 
diplomatic attache was enough to make them immune; that to 
require the Ambassador to say which were or were not official 
papers was a restriction of diplomatic privilege. In the course 
of time they were returned. 



262 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

In May of 1915 Franz Rintclen and ten others had phiced 
incendiary hond)s on vessels leaving New York laden with food 
and ammunition for the Allies. Nine of these men were now 
put under arrest charged with placing "fire bombs" on munition 
ships ; with attempted arson ; and with "acting in concert with 
others" in the manufacture of liquid fire bombs and placing 
them in sugar bags on the steamship Kirh Oswald of the Fabre 
Line. She left New York on May 15, 1015, cavight fire at sea 
whenonher way to Marseilles, and finally put into a French port, 
where two unexploded bombs were found in the cargo of sugar. 
Ernest Becker, electrician of the North German Lloyd steam- 
ship Friedrich der Grosse, and Captain von Kleist, Superin- 
tendent of the New J ersey Agricultural and Chemical Works ; 
the Assistant Superintendent of the Hamburg- American Dock; 
the Superintendent of the piers of the Atlas Line; the Chief 
Engineer of the Friedrich der Grosse; three assistant engineers 
of the Hamburg-American Line, and Walter T. Scheele, head 
of the Chemical Works where the bombs were filled, were the 
men in question. Scheele was a fugitive, but the rest were 
indicted on April 28, 1916, and with some others were sen- 
tenced in February, 1918, to two years and a half in the 
Atlanta Penitentiary. Scheele fled to Cuba, where he found 
refuge aboard a German vessel interned at Havana ; but when 
Cuba entered the war he fled again, was arrested, and in March, 
1918, was brought back to the United States. 

]\[ay 3, superseding indictments were obtained for Captain 
von Papen, Wolf von Igel, Hans Tauscher, Alfred Fritzen and 
Constantino Covani, all named in the confession of von der 
Goltz. Karl Tucker and Frederick J. Busse were mentioned 
as co-conspirators, but were not indicted. The defendants were 
charged with seeking "the obstruction of the military operations 
of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and the furthering 
of the military operations of the Emperor of Germany, and by 
means of bombs, dynamite and other explosives to blow up and 
destroy the Welland Canal, a Canadian waterway." 

Karl A. Luederitz, German consul general at Baltimore, 
was the next to be indicted for procuring the false passport 
for von del- G »Uz. At the same time, May 8, an indictment 
was returned cliai-ging von Igel, Walter Scheele, and Gustnv 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 263 

Steinberg, said to have been an aid to von Rintelen, with con- 
spiracy to falsify a ship's manifest in order to send a cargo of 
oil to Germany. Seven hundred and twenty bags of oil, chemi- 
cally reduced to powder, had been shipped as fertilizer. 

Fay, Walter Scholz and Paul Deaclie were now convicted 
and sentenced, Fay for eight years, Scholz for four and Deache 
for two. Four months later Fay escaped from the prison at 
Atlanta. In June Captain Tauscher was acquitted, for there 
was no evidence to show that he knew for what purpose the 
djTiamite he procured for von der Goltz was to be used. 

The presidential campaign was now near at hand, the nomi- 
nating conventions were soon to assemble and the part the 
German- Americans, the hyphenates, would take in the election 
was a matter of some concern. 

At the close of May a meeting of German-Americans was 
held in Chicago. They came from twenty-five states and rep- 
resented business, social, and political organizations, churches, 
and the German- American Press Association, and made public 
a statement of principles. German-Americans demanded a neu- 
trality of the sort advised by Washington in his Farewell 
Address; urged a foreign policy that would protect "American 
lives and American interests with equal firmness and justice," 
condemned "every official act and policy which shows passion- 
ate attachment for one belligerent nation or inveterate antip- 
athy for another," deplored all utterances "by officials, ex- 
officials and others designed to create, or tending to create, a 
division along racial lines among our people," and hoped the 
Republican and Democratic conventions would nominate candi- 
dates who would subscribe to these views. 

Reports from the West announced that an organization 
backed by the German-American Newspaper Association was 
giving notice that voters of German extraction would support 
neither Wilson nor Roosevelt, and would not hear of Root. In 
a speech at St. Louis, Mr. Roosevelt reviewed these reports and 
attacked the German- American Alliance as anti-xVmerican. "I 
am happy to say that it denounces me a little more bitterly than 
it has denounced Mr. Wilson or Mr. Root. The German- 
American Alliance of Pennsylvania, for instance, as reported 
in the public press, states that it intends to show the leaders 



264. THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

of the national conventions that they have to deal with a 
united German-American vote. Such a statement represents 
moral treason to the Republic. ... I want to serve notice on 
these men that our purpose next fall is to elect an American 
President and not a viceroy of the German Kaiser. . . . What- 
ever defects I have, I do not pussyfoot. If an English- 
American Alliance were formed I would say it is anti- American 
just as I say the German-American Alliance is anti- American." 

On Flag Day, June 14, 1916, the President marched at the 
head of a "preparedness parade" and at the foot of the Wash- 
ington Monument delivered a speech, in the course of which 
he replied to the threats of the hyphenates to use their influ- 
ence against the Administration in the November election. 
"There is," he said, "a disloyalty active in the United States, 
and it must be absolutely crushed. It proceeds from a minor- 
ity, a very small minority, but a very active and subtle 
minority. It works underground, but it also shows its ugly 
head where we can see it, and there are those at this moment 
who are trying to levy a species of political blackmail, saying: 
'Do what we wish in the interest of foreign sentiment or we 
will wreak our vengeance at the polls.' That is the sort of 
thing against which the American ISTation will turn with a 
might and triumph of sentiment which will teach these gen- 
tlemen once for all that loyalty to this flag is the first test of 
tolerance in the United States." 

Outside the Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia, the house 
where many believe the first American flag was made. Dr. C. J. 
Hexamer, President of the National German- American Alli- 
ance, repudiated the charge that the hyphenates were anti- 
Ajuerican, denounced those who raised the anti-hyphenate cry, 
and called all those who attacked the political integrity of 
German-Americans criminals. 

While the President was speaking at Washington the Demo- 
cratic National Nominating Convention was holding its open- 
ing session at St. Louis. Not content with an expression of 
his own feeling towards the hyphenates, the President insisted 
that a plank strongly American and anti-German-American 
should be put in the platform. It was badly needed, for the 
Chairman, when opening the session, made a strong pacifist 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 265 

peace-at-auy-price speech. The plank, it was reported, would 
denounce individuals or alliances seeking to embarrass the 
Government in its relations with foreign powers, and condemn 
any political party that changed its policy for fear of the 
hyphenate votes. When finally adopted the plank summoned 
"all men of whatever origin or creed who would count them- 
selves Americans to join in making clear to all the world the 
unity and consequent power of America. , . , We condemn as 
subversive of this nation's unity and integrity the activities and 
designs of every group or organization that has for its object 
the advancement of the interests of a foreigTi power, or which 
is calculated and tends to divide our people into antagonistic 
groups. We condemn all alliances and combinations of indi- 
viduals in this country, of whatever nationality or descent, who 
agree and conspire together for the purpose of embarrassing or 
weakening our Government, or of improperly influencing or 
coercing our public representatives in dealing or negotiating 
with any foreign power. . . . We condemn any political party 
which, in view of the activity of such conspirators, surrenders 
its integrity or modifies its policy." 

In the Republican platform were these words : "We appeal 
to all Americans, whether naturalized or native born, to prove 
to the world that we are Americans in thought and in deed, 
with one loyalty, one hope, one aspiration." 

Our relations with Great Britain during the first half of 
the year 19 IG were complicated by the arrival of the Appam, 
the censorship of the mails and the publication of a "black- 
list." February 1, the British steamer Appam, captured by 
the German sea raider Moeive, entered Newport l^ews in com- 
mand of Lieutenant Berg, of the Imperial N^avy, having on 
board the crews of seven enemy vessels. Ambassador von Berns- 
torff at once notified the Department of State that she would 
stay in an American port until further notice, because she "has 
not been converted into an auxiliary cruiser, is not armed and 
has made no prize under Mr. Berg's command." ^ 

Besides the crews of the seven captured vessels, there were 
on board passengers taken from the prizes, "a locked-up mili- 

' Special . Supplement to the American Journal of International Law, 
Vol. 10, October, 1916. 



266 THE UNITED STATES IX THE WORLD WAR 

tary party of the enemy whose iuterniiient iu the United States 
I request." The crew of the Appam, he asserted had offered 
resistance by training the guns on the Mocwe, were therefore 
to be looked on as combatants, and shouki also be interned until 
tlie end of the war. 

The British Ambassador claimed that if the Appani were 
regarded as a prize she should be given back to her owners and 
the crew interned, and cited Article 21 of The Hague Conven- 
tion XIII, of 1007.- Great Britain, it was true, had not rati- 
fied this rule, but it should be applied to the Appam. If 
ordered out, the British Embassy was confident "that she will 
not be allowed to leave the United States' jurisdiction under 
German control in a condition which would enable her to under- 
take offensive action." 

Ambassador von Bernstorff, under instruction from Berlin, 
now claimed that Article 21 was not binding, as Great Britain 
had not ratified it, and that under Article 10 of the old Prusso- 
American treaty of 1790," the Appam, as a prize, might remain 
in American water as long as she pleased. 

]\Ir. Lansing promptly ruled that all aboard, save the prize 
crews, should be allowed to leave and they went ashore. The 
British and African Steam Navigation Company, Limited, now 
filed a libel against the Appam, and Lieutenant Berg was sum- 
moned to appear before the United States District Court for 
the Eastern District of Virginia. In view of the treaty of 1709 
Ambassador von Bernstorff was "at a loss to understand why 

' Article 21. "A prize may only be brought into a neutral port on ac- 
count of unseaworthiness, stress of weather, or want, of fuel or provisions. 
It must leave as soon as the circumstances which justified its entry are 
at an end. If it does not, the neutral power must order it to leave at 
once; should it fail to obey, the neutral power must employ the means 
at its disposal to release it with its officers and crew and to intern the 
prize crew." 

Article 22 required a neutral to "release a prize brought into one of 
its ports imder circumstances otlier than those referred to in Article 21." 

'Article 19 provides: "The vessels of war, public and private, of both 
parties, shall carry freely, wheresoever they please, the vessels and ef- 
fects taken from tlieir enemies, without being obliged to pay any duties, 
charges, or fees to officers of admiralty, of the customs, or any others; 
nor shall such prizes be arrested, searched, or put under legal process, 
when they come to and enter the ports of the other party. I)vit may freely 
be carried out again at any time by their captors to the places expressed 
in their commission which the ccmimanding officer of such vessel shall be 
obliged to show." 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 2(J7 

such action has been taken by a court of your country." Arti- 
cle 21 of The Hague Convention, he wrote, did not apply. 
Besides, the sovereign whose officers had captured a vessel 
remained in possesion of that vessel and had full power over 
her. He, therefore, protested against the action of the Court 
and requested that the Attorney General procure the dismissal 
of the libel. Article 19 of the treaty of 1709, Secretary 
Lansing answered, applied only to prizes brought in by vessels 
of war. The Appam was not accompanied by a ship of war, 
but came alone in charge of a prize master and crew. Arti- 
cle 19 also provided that capturing vessels might take out their 
prizes "to the places expressed in their commissions." The 
commission of Lieutenant Berg was that of a prize master and 
directed him "to bring the Appam to the nearest American 
port and 'there to lay her up.' " The treaty contemplated "tem- 
porary asylum for vessels of war, accompanying prizes while 
en route to the places named in the commander's connnission, 
but not the deposit of the spoils of war in an American port." 
As to whether the Court had or had not jurisdiction, that was 
a question the Court must decide. July 29, the Judge decided 
the Court had jurisdiction, "that the manner of bringing the 
Appam into the waters of the United States, as well as her 
presence in those waters, constitutes a violation of the neu- 
ti'ality of the United States" and restored the vessel to her 
British owners. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, 
where in March, 1917, the decision was sustained. 

Late in December, 1915, reports reached the Department 
of State that British customs authorities were interfering with 
the mails. From the Danish steamer Oscar II 734 bags of 
parcel mail were removed Avhile on their way from the United 
States to Norway, Sweden and .Denmark ; from the Swedish 
steamer Stockholm 58 bags while on their way from New York 
to Gothenburg; from the Danish ship United States the cus- 
toms authorities at Kirkwall took 5,000 packages of merchan- 
dise, the property of American citizens; from the Freder- 
icJc VIII J, manifested for Norway, Sweden and Denmark, 597 
bags of parcel mail, and from the Dutch steamship New 
Amsterdam the entire mail, American diplomatic and consular 
pouches included. Against all this IVfr. Page was, 'insti-ucted on 



268 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

January 4, 1916, to enter "a formal and vigorous protest." 
The Department was "inclined to regard parcel post articles 
as subject to the same treatment as articles sent by express or 
freight in regard to belligerent search, seizure and condemna- 
tion." But it could not admit the right of Great Britain 
to seize neutral ships on their way from neutral European ports 
to ports in the United States, bring them in, and while in port 
remove and censor the mails they carried. 

France and Great Britain replied February 15, 1916, in a 
joint memorandum. In no wise, they held, do "parcels" con- 
stitute "letters" or "correspondence" or "dispatches," and are 
clearly not exempt in any way from supervision, visitation and 
seizure any more than belligerent cargoes on the high seas. As 
regarded letters, wrappers, envelopes entrusted to the postal 
service and generally contained in the mail bags, the Allied 
Governments "bring the following consideration to the notice of 
the ISTeutral Governments." Between December 31, 1914, and 
December 31, 1915, German or Austro-Hungarian naval 
authorities sank without warning thirteen mail ships with mail 
bags on board coming from or going to neutral countries with- 
out a word of protest from any neutral Government. Exami- 
nation of the mails of steamers that called at ports in the allied 
countries revealed the fact that in the wrappers, envelopes and 
mail were contraband articles much sought after by the enemy. 
On the Turhantia were 147^ pounds of india rubber and 
seven parcels of wool, and on the Medan seven parcels of crude 
rubber, worth in Germany on December 15, 1915, twenty-five 
marks per kilog. Enemy trafiic, driven from the sea, "thus 
resorted to hide in mail matter, in order to get through, all 
kinds of merchandise, contraband of war included, apparently 
by imposing on the post-office department of the neutral 
states." ^ Hence the Allied Governments had decided that 
merchandise shipped in post parcels "shall not be treated other- 
wise than merchandise shipped in any other way"; that the 
inviolability of postal correspondence does not affect the right 
of the Allied Governments to visit and, if needs be, "arrest and 
seize merchandise hidden in wrappers, envelopes or letters con- 

* Special Supplement to the American Journal of International Law, 
Vol. 10, pp. 402-409. 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 269 

tained in mail bags" ; and that in future they will refrain from 
seizing on the high seas genuine correspondence, letters or dis- 
patches and will forward them as quickly as possible after "the 
sincerity of their character has been ascertained." 

A pamphlet, "The Mails as a German War Weapon," pub- 
lished in London some months later, gives some account of what 
had been found in the mails. From the first few mails that 
were examined over 3,000 packets of raw rubber were seized 
on their way to Germany, while the German exports inter- 
cepted comprised jewelry, drugs, machine needles, violin 
strings, in short, almost every article Germany could afford to 
export. When it became known that merchandise sent by letter 
mail was not to pass unmolested, resort was had to every sort 
of subterfuge. Thus, the wrapping of a package of photographs 
when examined was found to contain a bar of pure nickel in 
each fluting of the corrugated paper wrapper. Packages de- 
scribed as containing photographs in reality contained packed 
sheets of dental rubber. In our country parcel post packages 
for Germany during two weeks in April, 1915, increased from 
115 to 1,200 per day. All sorts of food except meat were in 
them. Department stores made special provisions for such 
shipments and furnished airtight containers. 

Search of the mails on neutral ships voluntarily entering 
British waters during the first two months of the censorship 
resulted in the seizure of securities to the value of £2,000,000, 
and of checks, drafts and money orders for enemy benefit 
amounting to well over £50,000,000. 

To the memorandum of February 15 the Secretary of State 
replied, on May 24, to the French and British ambassadors in 
notes identical in language. Despite the assurance that they 
would refrain from seizing and confiscating on the high seas 
genuine correspondence, the Allies, he complained, now seized 
and confiscated mail from vessels in port instead of at sea, 
or forced "neutral ships without just cause to enter their ports," 
or "induced shipping firms to send their mail" through British 
ports, or "they detain all vessels merely calling at their ports," 
remove all mail and post parcels, take them to London, and 
there open and critically examine every piece to determine 
"the sincerity of their character," and finally forward "the 



270 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

expurgated remainder," often after irreparable • delay, to its 
destination. This had been the practice since the announce- 
ment of February 15, which seemed to be "merely notice that 
one illegal practice had been abandoned to make way for an- 
other more onerous and vexatious in character." 

"Important papers which can never be duplicated, or can 
be duplicated only with great difficulty, such as United States 
patents for inventions, rare documents, legal papers relating to 
the settlement of estates, powers of attorney, insurance claims, 
income tax returns, and similar matter have been lost." Busi- 
ness opportunities were lost through failure to transmit 
promptly bids, specifications, contracts. Checks, drafts, money 
orders, securities, were lost or detained for weeks or months. 
In the opinion of the Government of the United States, mail 
matter including stocks, bonds, coupons, money orders, checks, 
drafts, notes, was to be considered as merchandise and subject 
to the same exercise of belligerent rights. But correspondence, 
shipping documents, money order lists, and papers when relat- 
ing to enemy supplies or exports unless carried on the same ship 
with the goods referred to were to be treated as "genuine cor- 
respondence." The Government of the United States therefore 
"could no longer tolerate the wrongs which citizens of the United 
States have suffered." Only a "radical change in the present 
British and French policy will satisfy this Government." So 
strongly was the censorship resented that when Congress passed 
the General Revenue Act of September 8 a provision was in- 
serted that whenever, during a war in which the United States 
was not engaged, the President is satisfied that in any bellig- 
erent country American citizens, ships, firms, companies, or 
corporations are not given "any of the facilities of commerce, 
including the unhampered traffic in mails which the vessels or 
citizens, firms, companies or corporations of that belligerent 
country enjoy in the United States or its possessions," he is 
authorized to deny the citizens and corporations of such bellig- 
erent country the use of the United States mails, telegraph, 
wireless or cables. 

October 12, the French and British Governments replied in 
another memorandum, but conceded none of the contentions 
made by Mr. Lansing. 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 271 

One of the objects of the examination of the mails stated 
in the little pamphlet "The Mails as a German War Weapon," 
was the detection of ''plots hatched by our enemies in their own 
or in neutral countries." These were revealed by "letters rela- 
tive to and furthering the perpetration of acts of violence, in- 
cendiarism and sahotage in the United States," and ''letters con- 
taining enemy propaganda." Jn this latter class was a great 
mass of "scurrilous leaflets and pamphlets" dispatched to our 
country to be reforwarded to British territory for the purpose 
of fostering disloyalty and rebellion in the Empire. Tons of 
such propaganda leaflets and pamphlets found in the mails 
were "destroyed each w^eek or sold as paper waste." 

Just at the time Mr. Lansing wrote his notes of protest 
rumors became current that Germany was about to reopen trade 
in much needed articles by means of svibmarine merchantmen. 

From reliable sources, the report said, it is learned that a 
regular submarine merchant service is about to be established be- 
tween Hamburg and ISTew York, and the first under sea liner 
will be due at Quarantine, l^ew York, about July 4. She would 
carry mail, parcel post, express matter and perhaps a few pas- 
sengers and would be armed for defense but not for attack. An 
American shipping man just from Hamburg brought the news. 
I^othing more was heard of the boat for a month, when Lloyds 
Weekly announced that a German submarine was carrying a 
message from the German Emperor to the President. A dis- 
patch from Madrid confirmed this rumor and fixed the date of 
arrival at ISTew York as June 25. Another from Baltimore 
announced that the submarine was ott" the mouth of Chesapeake 
Bay, that she wa^ loaded with dyestutts and medicine, chiefly 
aspirin, and that her return cargo of nickel and rubber was 
already awaiting her on the pier of the Eastern Forwarding 
Company at Locust Point. 

This report was true in substance, but not until July 8 did 
the submarine merchantman Deutschland arrive off the Virginia 
Capes and make her way to Baltimore, commanded by Captain 
Paul Konig. She left Heligoland on June 23, loaded with 
dyestufts, but carrying no money, no securities, no mail, no 
guns, and after a run of sixteen days reached port. No sooner 
had she come than both the British and French Embassies 



272 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

called attention to her presence and asked that her character be 
investigated. She was a submarine. ISTo such type of craft 
had ever before been used for merchant purposes. Was the 
submarine of her size and build to be considered purely an in- 
strument of naval warfare ? 

iln the opinion of the Allies any submarine was a vessel of 
war. She could not be treated as a merchantman. The fact that 
she could submerge made it impossible to subject her to the 
treatment of merchant ships as required by international law 
and so often insisted upon by the United States. She could not 
be stopped, visited, searched and the character of her cargo de- 
termined. 

Who were her real owners was another question to be settled. 
Her ship papers showed that the Deufschland was owned by a 
Bremen concern, the Deutsche Ozean-Rhederei Gesellschaft mit 
Beschraenkter Haftung, that is, the German Ocean Transporta- 
tion Company, Limited. Was this really a corporation or only 
the German Government in disguise? What was the status of 
her officers and crew ? The Collector at Baltimore reported that 
the Deutschland had no giins, was manned by a merchant crew, 
carried a merchant cargo, was not a warship. Nevertheless, 
the Secretary of the Navy at the request of the Department of 
State appointed three naval officers to inspect her. They found 
no evidence that the ship was armed or could be armed without 
structural changes so extensive that she would have to go to a 
ship yard. In short she could not be armed at sea. 

England heard the news of the arrival of the Deutschland 
with good humor. The press had much to say in compliment to 
Captain Konig, but saw 'uo demonstration of the weakness of 
the British blockade. We, said the Manchester Guardian, are 
quite ready to join in the laugh at our expense and applaud the 
daring of the Captain who appears to us a g'ood sportsman. We, 
said the Express, can honestly congratulate the Captain and Jiis 
crew in having given the world cause to smile. "America is to 
be shown, just before the presidential election, that the block- 
ade can be broken and a German cargo can be landed in the 
United States in spite of the British Navy. We thank the 
Kaiser for the comic relief in a busy week." Other journals 
did not think the success of the Deutschland showed that the 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 273 

blockade was ineffective, but rather that it was so effective that 
this extraordinary means was the only way to evade it. The 
fact that a German U-boat had really reached our shores we 
should carefully consider in view of the repeated warning of 
the Tirpitz writers that America was not too far away for Ger- 
many to reach her. Though the Deutschland carried no guns, 
she was none the less a threat to the American navy. 

Dispatches from Berlin told of a second submarine, the 
Bremen, about to start for America, and of others nearing com- 
pletion, and of a weekly service soon to be established. But the 
Br'emen never came, nor did the Deutschland leave as soon as 
was expected. Supposing her stay would be short, great sums 
were offered for passage, and hundreds of letters were mailed 
with the request that they be sent by the Deutschland. Neither 
requests were granted when on August 1 she left Baltimore 
on her voyage home. November 1, she came again, this time 
to New London, and after a stay of twenty days departed once 
more for Bremen. 

The arrival of the Deutschland on her first trip and the de- 
cision of the Department of State that she was a merchantman 
and should be treated as such brought from the Allies, Great 
Britain, France, Portugal, Italy, Russia and Japan, memoranda 
identical in language, insisting that submarines were to be 
treated as vessels of war. 

Application of the principles of international law to sub- 
marines, they said, "offers features that are as peculiar as they 
are novel" because such craft could navigate and sojourn in the 
seas while submerged and so escape detection; because it was 
impossible to determine their national character, to know 
whether they were neutral or belligerent, and because it was not 
possible "to put out of consideration the power to do injury 
which is inherent in their very nature." Therefore the Allied 
Governments held that submarines should be deprived of the 
benefits of the rules of international law "regarding the admis- 
sion and sojourn of war and merchant vessefs in neutral waters, 
roadsteads and harbors." Any submarine of the belligerents 
that once enters a neutral harbor must be held there. 

"The Allied Governments take this opportunity to warn the 
neutral Powers of the great danger to neutral submarines" navi- 



274 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

gating their waters visited by the submarines of belligerents. 

Our Government expressed its surprise at the seeming at- 
tempt of the Allies to make a rule for the treatment of sub- 
marines in time of war, and to enforce its acceptance by warn- 
ing neutrals of the great danger to their submarines in waters 
visited by belligerent submarines. The Government knew of 
no circumstances which would render the existing rules of in- 
ternational law inapplicable either to war or merchant sub- 
marines, and reserved its liberty of action in all respects. That 
there might be no misunderstanding as to its attitude the 
Government of the United States would say to the Allied 
Governments that the belligerent Powers were in duty bound to 
distingiiish between submarines of neutral and belligerent na- 
tionality, and that responsibility for any conflict between bellig- 
erent warships and neutral submarines must rest entirely on the 
negligent Power.* 

The retaliatory section of the General Revenue Act of Sep- 
tember 8 was intended to apply to another form of British in- 
terference with neutral trade. From the opening of the war 
Great Britain under her trading with the enemy act had for- 
bidden her subjects to trade with an enemy, but had not at- 
tempted to interfere with trade between an enemy resident in 
a friendly or neutral country and the land to which he owed 
allegiance. On July 18, 1916, however, she went further, made 
public a ''blacklist" of eighty-three firms and individuals of 
enemy nationality or associations, resident in our country, and 
f(U'bade British subjects to trade with them under the same 
penalties as if trading with the enemy. This prohibition it was 
explained applied to German firms with head offices in Ger- 
many; to German firms incorporated in the United States and 
technically American ; and those that made use of a secret code 
or cloak to cover the fact that they were using the cables in the 
interest of the enemy. Mr. Lansing at once instructed Mr. 
Page to protest. The ''blacklist," he said, had been received 
with "the most painful surprise" by the people and Government 
of the United States. It seemed to be an arbitrary interference 
with neutral trade against which it was the duty of the Govern- 

* Supplement to the Amerivtnt Joiiinal of 1 nUrtmtional Iaiw, Vol. 10, 
October, 1916, pp. 342-344. 



PLOTS AND CRIMES OX SEA AND LAND 275 

ment. "to protest in most decided terms." British steamships 
would not accept cargoes from the persons and firms proscribed ; 
neutral bankers refused them loans ; neutral merchants would 
not contract for their goods, fearing a like proscription, and 
steamship lines under neutral ownership were given to under- 
stand that if they accepted freight from the "blacklisted," coal 
could not be had at British ports and they might themselves be 
put on the list. Among the proscribed were American firms, im- 
porters of foreign products or distributors in foreign lands of 
American products. These foreign connections, fostered dur- 
ing many years, when once broken, could not easily be resumed. 
All such citizens of the United States, the Government begged 
to remind the Government of His Britannic Majesty, were 
quite within their rights in trading with the people of any of 
the nations now at war, subject to the well-known and well-de- 
fined rules of international law. For breaches of blockade when 
the blockade is real and eifective, for every unneutral act by 
whomsoever attempted there were well-established remedies and 
penalties, which the Government of the United States could 
not consent to see altered or extended at the will of a single 
Power or group of Powers. That neutrals must not be con- 
demned, nor their goods confiscated, save on fair adjudication 
and full opportunity to be heard in prize court or elsewhere, was 
a just and honorable principle accepted by all civilized nations 
as a safeguard of the rights of neutrals. This the blacklist 
brushed aside. It condemned without notice, without hearing 
and in advance. Manifestly the United States could not ac- 
quiesce in such methods of punishment of its citizens. The 
Government of the United States had no intention, no inclina- 
tion to shield its citizens from the just consequences of unneu- 
tral acts. It was quite willing they should sufl^er the penalties 
which international law has sanctioned. But His Britannic 
Majesty's Government could not expect the Government of the 
United States to consent to see its citizens put upon an ex parte 
blacklist without calling attention in the gravest terms to the 
serious consequences such an act must entail. 

In course of time the names of seven firms were removed 
from the blacklist: but vessels were blacklisted and British sub- 



276 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

jects forbidden to furnish them with bunker coal or handle the 
goods they transported. 

October 10, 1916, the British Goverment made a long reply. 

"The trading with the enemy (extension of powers) act, 
1915," Viscount Grey said, "is a piece of purely nmnicipal leg- 
islation which provides that His Majesty, by proclamation, may 
prohibit persons in the United Kingdom from trading with any 
persons in foreign countries wlio might be named in that procla- 
mation or subsequent order. That is all." The Government 
neither attempted nor claimed to lay penalties on neutral in- 
dividuals or neutral commerce. The measure simply bade those 
owing allegiance to Great Britain to cease trading with persons 
found to be assisting or rendering service to the enemy. "]!^either 
the rights nor property of the persons specified is interfered 
with, condemned or confiscated ; they are as free as before to 
carry on their business." The right of the Government to pro- 
hibit British subjects to trade with such firms as it saw fit was 
held to be beyond dispute. The measure in question was justi- 
fied as a military necessity. The modern means of transport 
and communication, opening new, easy methods for an enemy 
subject residing in a neutral country to render aid to his 
Government, was cited as another justifying reason. That 
German business houses in foreign lands had been not merely 
agents active in spreading espionage was common knowledge. 
They had been used as bases to supply German cruisers, they 
were paymasters of miscreants hired "to destroy by foul means 
factories engaged in making, or ships engaged in carrying, sup- 
plies required by the Allies. Such operations have been carried 
out even in the territory of the United States itself," and His 
Majesty's Govermnent was bound to say "that no adequate ac- 
tion has yet been taken by the Government of the United States 
to suppress breaches of neutrality of this particularly criminal 
kind." And so the matter stood when we entered the war. 

By this time another German submarine, the U-53, fully 
armed with torpedoes and guns, suddenly appeared off I^ew- 
port, stayed a few hours and put to sea. From Newport she 
made her way to a point some sixty miles south of the Nan- 
tucket Lightship, directly in the route of European trade, and 
there lay in wait for her victims. She did not wait long, for at 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 277 

about half-past five in the morning: of October 8 the American 
steamer Kansan was stopped, but allowed to proceed. Half 
an hour later the Sfrathdene was met, torpedoed and sunk. 
Then came in succession the British freighter, West Point, the 
Stephano, the Dutch steamer Bloomersdijk and the E^orwegian 
tanker Christian Knudsen. Meantime the distress call from the 
West Point, sunk about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, was 
picked up by the radio station at Newport, and fifteen American 
torpedo boat destroyers were at once dispatched to search for 
the boats of the torpedoed ships, and bring back the crews and 
passengers. All were landed in safety. For a time men en- 
gaged in the shipping business were panic-stricken. Ships un- 
der the flags of the Allies were held in port, anxiety was felt 
for the safety of vessels nearing port, and warnings by wireless 
were sent out from every available station along the coast. Wild 
rumors were current. Some said there were three submarines, 
others two, others that a "mother-boat" had been seen and had 
undoubtedly accompanied U-53, carrying her supplies. Ques- 
tions of law and policy were raised. Germany it was said has 
now practically established a blockade of our ports. Will the 
United States quietly tolerate this bringing of the European 
war to its very shores ? Were the United States ISTaval authori- 
ties acting lawfully when they sent destroyers to save the pas- 
sengers and crews ? The act was humane but was it not aiding 
and assisting the submarine in its work of destruction and to 
that extent unneutral ? What was the object of Germany in 
sending the U-53 to cruise off our coast ? The French press 
declared it was to intimidate public opinion on the eve of the 
election. 

The story of some fishermen and of the Captain of the 
Stephano that they had seen two submarines was supported by 
the Providence Joumal, which gave ,a new explanation of the 
visit of the U-53. 

''The Providence Journal," it said, '"has information se- 
cured direct from German Embassy sources which conclusively 
settles the controversy as to the real reasons why the German 
submarine U-53 crossed the Atlantic and entered I*[ewport 
Harbor. The entire scheme was originated and supervised by 
Captain Boy-Ed, late naval attache to the United States, who 



278 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

from his headquarters in Subee, wliere he still is, has directed 
every move that has been made or is yet to be made by German 
submarines off the eoast of the United States." 

The report, the Journal said, that there were more than one 
submarine, was true. The U-53 had as eonsorts U-48, com- 
manded by Captain L. Miehaelis, and U-61, in charge of Lieu- 
tenant Commander H. Griefen. In proof of the part taken by 
Boy-Ed, the Journal gave an extract from a letter written by 
him Septendier 4, to an olticial in the German Embassy. He 
said: 

",It is vitally necessary for us to estaldish some proper work- 
ing basis wdiich will be satisfactory to the President, and in or- 
der to do that we nuist create a condition which will necessitate 
a ruling. 

''Any thought of our being permitted to use our submarines 
to bring captured vessels into American ports as prizes must, of 
course, be abandoned when we think of the Appam case. Con- 
fronted by such an obstacle at one end, we are also forced to the 
conclusion that we cannot at this moment, 'while domestic events 
are pending in America,' sink such vessels without taking ac- 
count of human life. In order to ascertain where we stand, we 
must, therefore, force the issue and see to what extent America 
is willing to carry out her alleged humanitarian ideals by help- 
ing us to save the lives of those whose ships we destroy in the 
coming campaign in the Western Atlantic." 

Thus, said the Journal, "the sole motive was to bring to 
the spot, as a result of S.O.S. calls, whatever vessels of the 
United States Navy might be in the neighborhood, and on their 
arrival to ask the (juestion, how far American men-of-war would 
aid the plans of the submarine commanders by saving the lives 
of the passengers and crews of the doomed vessels." 

At a conference held on Monday, October !>, at the German 
Embassy, the Journal asserted. Ambassador von Bernstorff said 
that at last a working basis iiad been established for submarine 
activities on this side of the Atlantic. "We now have a prece- 
dent w^hich makes it certain that American vessels of war will 
not hesitate to save the lives of passengers and crews of ships 
that are destroyed by submarines, and as long as the physical 
conditions of submarines are what they are, we are very glad, 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 279 

nut desiring to destroy noncombatant life, to hand the humani- 
tarian work of saving men and women over to the United States 
Navy." ^ 

The same newspapers wliich announced the arrival of the 
Deutschland at N^ew London made public a dispatch from the 
American consul at Quecnstown stating that the British steamer 
Marina had been torpedoed without warning, off the southwest 
coast of Ireland, and that six of the fifty-two Americans aboard 
were drowned. Testimony given to the consul by survivors 
was to the effect that the ship was struck by two torpedoes, that 
no warning was given and that she sank in eighteen minutes. 
The consul also reported that on October 26 the British steamer 
Rowanniore with Americans aboard was torpedoed. A few 
days later the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer 
Arabia with one American aboard was sunk by a submarine in 
the Mediterranean off Malta. Then came news of the sinking 
off the Spanish coast in the Mediterranean of the American 
steamer Columbian. The captain, sitting in his cabin, heard the 
sound of guns, and, rushing on deck, saw a shell fly across his 
vessel and a submarine some four miles away. Drawing near, 
she signaled for him to follow, which he did all night, guided 
by rockets sent up from his captor, and answered under orders 
by rockets from the Columbian. At six o'clock in the morning 
he manned a boat and sent it to the submarine to explain that 
the Columbian was American-owned; but no explanation was 
allowed and the boat came back with a German officer and two 
sailors. The crew were then ordered on board the Bolo, another 
prize standing by, and the captain was taken to the U-boat. 
Bombs were then placed on the Columbian and in about twelve 
minutes they exploded and she sank. All hands remained 
aboard the Bolo, until a Swedish steamer, the Varing, was met 
and captured, when they were transferred to her and the Bolo 
sunk. A Norwegian steamship, the Fordalen, was the next 
prize. Her crew was sent to the Varing and the Fordalen was 
sunk. Food growing scarce, the Varing was allowed to enter 
Corunna. 

As soon as the election was over the Department of State 
instructed our charge at Berlin — ]\Ir. Ge]'ard was then in the 

'Providence Jouinal, October 24, 1916. 



280 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

United States — to make inquiries of the German Government 
concerning the sinking of the Marina, liowanmore, and Arahia, 
for all signs seemed to indicate that the submarine commanders 
had failed to observe the pledge given the United States. A dis- 
patch from Berlin in November ainiounecd that a large vessel 
was sunk eighty miles west of Malta and justified the act be- 
cause she carried a 15 centimeter gun, was transporting hun- 
dreds of workmen and war material to France, and if Great 
Britain permitted passengers to travel on such a ship, "the lives 
of noncombatants were frivolously risked." In the case of the 
Marina, great stress, it was said, would be laid by Germany on 
the fact that she was armed and therefore liable to attack with- 
out warning. Feeling in Germany was running strongly in 
favor of the renewal of ruthless submarine warfare. Armed 
merchantmen, it was insisted, should be attacked at sight, with- 
out warning, and without allowing time for passengers and crew 
to take to the boats. 

]\Ir. Lansing denied all knowledge of any such intention on 
the part of Germany. "I do not know," he said, "the origin 
of the storfes that the submarine situation is serious, but I have 
the impression that they are emanating from some source in this 
country." What source he declined to specify. 

And now a dispatch from our consul at Valencia reported 
the sinking of the American steamer Chemung near Cape de 
Gata in the IVfediterranean Sea off the southeast coast of Spain, 
by gun fire anil torpedoes from a submarine. No lives were 
lost, as the boats were towed to within five miles of the coast 
by the submarine. 

December 4 the Italian steamer Palermo, on her way from 
New York to Geneva with horses and mules, was torpedoed off 
the Mediterranean Coast of Spain. On board were some twenty- 
five Americans. 

The German note on the Arabia, now made public, gave as 
the reason for sinking her the belief that she was a transport. 
November 6, one hundred miles west of the island of Corigo, a 
German submarine, said the note, fell in with a large steamship 
coming from the Corigo Straits. She was painted black, and 
did not, as was usual with the Peninsula and Oriental steamers, 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 281 

have light-colored superstructures. Though identical with the 
Arabia, she was off the route taken by steamers between Port 
Said and Malta, and on that taken by vessels of war. On board 
were "large batches of Chinese and other colored persons in 
their national costumes." Supposing them to be workmen 
soldiers, "such as are used in great numbers behind the front 
by the enemies of Germany, the submarine commander believed 
he was concerned with a transport ship, and "attacked without 
delay and sank her." 

Should the United States give the data showing that the 
Arabia was an ordinary passenger steamer, the action of the sub- 
marine commander would not then be in accordance with his 
instructions. The act would be a regrettable mistake "from 
wdiich the German Government would promptly draw the ap- 
propriate consequences." 

The British Government, when informed of this reply and 
asked for the facts, answered that the Arabia was not, when 
sunk, and never had been, in the service of the Government ; that 
there were no Asiatics on board save the Indian crew ; and that 
she did not take the usual route, for fear of submarines. The 
Marina, Germany said, was also supposed to be a transport. 
Great Britain admitted that she had carried horses on her 
eastbound trip, but declared she was not in the Government 
service on her westbound trip. The Columbian had been tor- 
pedoed because of assistance given to the enemy by wireless. 
Quite as useless was another protest called forth by another act 
of German brutality in Belgium. 

As October wore away letters and press dispatches from 
Amsterdam and London told of a new reign of terror in Bel- 
gium, a new form of German atrocity. Having destroyed Bel- 
gian industry by carrying off machinery of every sort, having 
seized all raw materials and having by such seizures deprived 
tens of thousands of men of the means of earning a living and 
forced them to become a public charge, the German authorities 
in the military area of Flanders now proceeded to seize the 
workmen because they were idle and send them to "somewhere 
in Germany" and October 3 posted a decree in every town and 
village in the area subject to army orders. 



282 THE UNITED STATES Ix\ THE WORLD WAR 

Decree Concerning the Limiting of the Burdens on Public Charity 

I. People able to work may be compelled to work even outside 
the place where they live, in case they have to apply to the charity 
of others for the support of themselves or their dependents on account 
of gfambling-, drunkenness, loafing, unemployment, or idleness. 

H. Every inhabitant of the country is bound to render assistance 
in case of accident or general danger, and also to give help in case 
of public calamities as far as he can, even outside the place where 
he lives; in case of refusal he may be compelled by force. 

HI. Any one called upoii to work, under Articles I o,r II, who 
shall refuse the work, or to continue at the work assigned him, will 
incur the penalty of imprisonment up to three years and of a fine up 
to 10,000 marks, or one or other of these penalties, unless a severer 
penalty is provided for by the laws in force. 

If the refusal to work has been made in concert or in agreement 
with several persons, each accomplice will be sentenced, as if he were 
a ringleader, to at least a week's imprisonment. 

IV. The German military authorities and Military Courts will 
enforce the proper execvition of this decree. 

The Quartermaster General, Sauberzweig. 

Great Headquarters, Octoher 3, 1916. 

N^otices which followed the decree a;ave warning to all con- 
cerned to come at a certain day and hour to a certain place with 
a kit containing specified articles. Municipal authorities who 
alone had the lists of names of persons receiving public aid 
were ordered to furnish them to the Military Authorities. In 
general this was refused and the town heavily fined. Thus the 
Municipal Council of Tournai, having refused to furnish a list, 
felt it a duty to place on record the following: 

The City of Tournai is prepared to submit unreservedly to all the 
exigencies authorized by the laws and customs of war. Its sincerity 
cannot be questioned. For more than two years it has submitted to 
the German occupation, during which time it has lodged and lived 
at close quarters with the German troops, yet it has displayed perfect 
composure and has refrained from any act of hostility, proving thereby 
that it is animated by no idle spirit of bravado. 

But the city could not bring itself to provide arms for use against 
its own children, knowing well that natural law and the law of 
nations (which is the expression of natural law) both forbid such 
action. 

In his declaration dated September 2, 1914, the German Governor 



PLOTS AND CRIMES OX SEA AND LAND 283 

General of Belgium declared : "I ask none to renonnce his patriotic 
sentiments." 

The city of Tournai reposes confidence in this declaration, whicli 
it is bound to consider as the sentiment of the German Emperor, 
in whose name the Governor General was speaking. In accepting 
the inspiration of honor and patriotism, the city is loyal to a funda- 
mental duty, the loftiness of which must be apparent to any German 
officer. 

The city is confident that the straightforwardness and clearness 
of this attitude will prevent any misunderstanding arising between 
itself and the German Army. 

Major General Ilopfer replied: 

In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolu- 
tions, to oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the 
occupied territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance 
and of a complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the 
state of war. 

The "clear and simple situation" is in reality the following: 

The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the 
city must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my 
previous explanations. 

The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city — on 
account of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded — a 
punitive contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within 
the next six days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds 
that until such time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for 
every day in arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of 
20,000 marks will be paid by the city." 

Keports from Ghent, Bruges, Courtnai, Tournai and Ant- 
werp told of the seizure of men. Five thousand, it was said, had 
been deported from Ghent and 15,000 from the country. A 
week later the number deported was said to have reached 
30,000. Refugees from around Antwerp who broke through 
the barbed wire obstructions along the Dutch border, and es- 
caped, reported that on short notice all males from 17 to 30 
had been summoned, grouped in bands of sixty, herded into 
open goods cars and cattle cars and sent to Germany. Wives, 
children, relatives were not allowed to come within three hun- 
dred yards of the station. 

"German War Practices, issued bv the Corumittpe on J^iihlic Informa- 
tion, Nov. lo, 1917. p. 58, Sn. 



284 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

What happened at Mons is thus described by an eye witness : 

"At half-past five, in the gray of the morning on the eighteenth 
of November, they walked ont, six thousand two hundred men at 
Mons, myself and another leading them down the cobblestones of 
the street and out where rioting would be less than in the great 
city, with the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with the 
women held back. 

"There they were collected ; no question of who they were, whether 
they were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in 
life. 'Go to the right! Go to the left! Go to the right!' So they 
were turned to the one side or the other. 

"Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to 
Germany. You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other 
brother left. A hasty embrace and they were separated and gone. 
You had here a man on his knees before a German officer, pleading and 
begging to take his old father's place ; that was all. The father went 
and the son stayed. They were packed in those trains that were wait- 
ing there." ^ 

The Belgian women now appealed to Minister Whitlock: 

"Mr. Minister," they said, "the crime which is now being 
committed under your eyes, the deportation of thousands of men 
compelled to work on enemy soil against the interests of their 
country, cannot iind a shadow of excuse on the ground of mili- 
tary necessity ; it cannot be admitted that citizens may be com- 
pelled to work directly or indirectly for the enemy against their 
brothers who are fighting. Nevertheless the occupying power 
will force thousands of men to this monstrous extremity, both 
those who have already been taken to Germany and those who 
to-morrow will undergo the same fate, if from the outside, from 
neutral Europe and the United States, no help is offered. 

"Those who are taken away to-day do not go to perform a 
glorious duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a dark exile, 
threatened by hunger, prison, death, will be called upon to per- 
form the most odious work— service to the enemy against the 
fatherland. The mothers cannot stand by wliile such an 
abomination is taking place without making their voices heard 
in protest. We extend our hands to you and address to your 
country a last appeal. 

'John H. Gade, in The National Geographic Magazine, May, 1917. 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 285 

"Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically ex- 
pressed can counterbalance that of the German authorities." ^ 
And now Belgium, through her Minister at Washington, pro- 
tested to Secretary Lansing. The German Governor General, 
he said, is forcing thousands of Belgian workmen to go to Ger- 
many to work in quarries in the manufactui-e of concrete, and 
in lime kilns, under the pretext that they are a charge upon 
public charity. This he protested was contrary to the law of 
nations and inhuman, and in the name of the King of the Bel- 
gians asked that the United States intervene to procure the 
stoppage of deportations, and obtain the liberation of those de- 
ported. Germany's statement that they were not used in war 
industries was false, for they were used in work directly con- 
nected with war and released Germans who were sent to the 
front to fight. A week later the Minister again protested. The 
situation in Belgium was daily growing worse. The "slave raid- 
ing" was going on over all the country. When not put to work 
in German ammunition factories, the men were sent to northern 
France to dig trenches or build strategic railroads. On ISTovem- 
ber 24 two hundred textile workers were deported from Ghent. 
By the first of December the number of those deported was 
given at 200,000, and men up to fifty-five years of age were then 
being taken. 

Our charge, Mr. Grew, meanwhile had been instructed to 
protest informally, and in the course of a conversation with the 
Under Secretary of State was handed this memorandum : 

"Against the unemployed in Belgium,* who are a burden to 
public charity, in order to avoid friction arising therefrom, 
compulsory measures are to be adopted to make them work so 
far as they are not voluntarily inclined to work, in accordance 
with the regulation issued May 15, 1016, by the Governor Gen- 
eral. ,In order to ascertain such persons the assistance of the 
municipal authorities is required for the district of the Governor 
General in Brussels, while in the districts outside of the Gen- 
eral Government, i.e., in the provinces of Flanders, lists were 
demanded from the presidents of the local relief committees 
containing the names of persons receiving relief. For the sake 
of establishing uniform procedure the competent authorities 

• German War Practices, pp. 71, 72. 



sjiitJ ruK rxirKP srvrrs in vwv wouip w vu 

tW mx\uivn|V5>l iuithv>ritu>*; turtlvo\\uvx»v» }u>\MvUn\t* of Kval \-x>- 
lu>f <\xuuuutr\\^ wUv^ luuY W ^lotaimni for haviiv^^ tvfws^iHl to 
tur«i?^h ?4\ioh Ui^t^ wvU W wU^^j^hK" 

Mr. ivixAv thou vli*vnu^>^Hl with tUo Vmlor S<vivtav\ v»t Staio 
1W Kvxivi^u AtVai^^ t)\o m\t\xrtuuato uujxiv.^tjiuxu whioU tUisi lU^ 
cUuxM \Yv>uKl «»ako aWx^ul, wuvuuUhI him that tho luoajsuivv'* 
winv vvxutrai Y tv* th<^ a^^^^iuaiuHM^ ^ivxux tv> tho AmK>!^uKvr hv tlio 
i^hauvvlKxr at iJouoral lloavK^uartoi!^ ihvi^lt ou tho otYtvt whioh 
tho txxHoY n\i^^ht havo on Kn^iihuivl'ji attitmlo ti^vaniji ivliof 
wxxrk in tH%im»u auJ ?^Uvl tliat tho moa5i\u\\>4 havin^u^ Ihvu 
|xr\xuuil^ijatx\l iisvxWlY bY tho uiilitaiY jiXAviumout in IVlgimu. ho 
thvx\\iitht tho luattor v>U4iht at U^\^t to W hwni^^hi tv» tho Ohau^vl- 
Kxr** jx<n?^xual atioutivxu Kva^l^v of tlvo v\xust\^uoiuv<i tho now 
jxxUoY wxnUvl owtaih How /inuuonuauw ii\d not think that tho 
Kvxwigu i^thvv had a«Y iutluomv with tho militarx- aiithvuitio^i; 
divl not IvUoYo that tho uoxv jn^iov in IVltfiuui v\niKi K> ivxokod; 
but ilixi i\ot vii?^\pp»vw vxf Mr. Ivit^w stvinji- tho OhanvvlUxr 
aKxnt tho uiattor. 

To tho VluuKvlKxr. xvhon ji^vn, Mr. i.uvxv ^ngjiv^^tixl that: 
I^uIy aotwal \uunnploYt\l W takow; that uiarx^itnl men w ht^d* 
of tanvili<\:i Iv nv»t takou; tlvat o«»pU>Y^v?i of t)io Ooniito Na- 
tional W tiot takon ; that tho H*t?ii of tho nnoniploYvnl W not u^ 
^wirtnl of tho IVl^ian antbovitxo* ; that IVl^^inan.^ who Ivad al- 
n\ui\" Kvn in\pri^xn<\l fv>r ivf\»*i»\i* to !<\\pplY tho.^o Hst?i, Iv i\^ 
h*a5?^\l; that do|Hntx\l jvi^ons Iv iH^rnkitttnl tv^ vHxntv^jHuul with 
tlunr fanuHi^ii in lV\iii\uu ; ami that ^xlaiwj of work or ^\xntvntra- 
tivxu ojun^xji vxf ih^jH>rt^\l |vr^v>n* Iv v^\vnt\l bx t)io iionnan (un*- 
oriunoiit to in?iiHVtivni bv nontral wpiv.^ontativo^ 

Tho OhanvvlKxr. thi\n»^4ih hi* avijwtant. tvplitnl infornvallY 
awd orallY that xxuIy aotnallx- \uuMnpU\Yt\l woiv to Iv takou, 
and t}»o $t^hx*tion$ wvniUl W u\ado in a oaivful and dolilvrato 
niaxwor; that u\arvit\l mou or hoad?* of fantilios v\nihi not iu 
[xriuoiptlo K> oxo\nptt\h but t\ioh oaso wvxuld W vxxuv^idoiwl oan^ 
fulK «.>n it$ moritji; that on\phxY^H^!i of tho Ovxuuto National wort* 
n^\n^t\l a* aotuallY ont^xh\Yt\l and thort^foiv oxon\pt ; that it 
\Y«»« t\>j^>.utial that tho l><%iau authoriti*\^ !Nhouhl v^x>lvrato with 
tho i»orn\au authoritit\i in furnishing- lists of unoiuploYod. in 



I'/.O'IS am; ClUMKS ON SKA AM> l.ASh '.iH7 

oi'il'jr to ;ivoi<J making m'iHi.n\u:H ; lliat only on<; lifjljjrlfin Iiu'J b';';n 
iinj>riHoji»r<l for vfi'iiHiu^ f,o ^mv hii'-Ii lihlH, an'i or'l''»'i-i lui'j now 
hcA'.l\ ^'iv'rn lof liirt j-<;l<';i-i<' ; lli;il, (|<;(;orl,<;(J |M;rMonH woiilfj h<; ])<',r- 
m\t.U:(l to <:orr<';-:j>on<J witji Ux-ir f}i/nili«'« in l>f;lpriij»n ; lliat j^la';0H 
of work a/i(l ro/ircnl;;it,ion «';injj/;-i wouM in prin'-ipl*; Ix: op<;n 
to innj»<;<-tion l/y SpaniHli (liploinjiti'' »<');r(;H<;ntativ<;K; and that 
Anui/'i'ran inpc-lion j;iij/lil ;)];-;<» h<; i/il'or)/i;illy an;injjr<r(| if ']<;- 

I'ailin^ in tlii;-; inlonii;(l w;i y i'< ))ro<l(J''<i uihicX, a formal no</<; 
waH (J;;ift(MJ l;y \\v. <ir<;w a/i'l 'Inly jncHontod l)u<5<;nj|>(;r 5, 11) HJ. 

'I'Ik; ^/ovrnnMinl of tli*; l.'nil<!(| Slatr^H, it H<;t forth, han 
h-aijK'l will) the ;^i'<'at<'Ht <'on<'''/;i ;ui'l fc/vt-i. t,\' "th<; jjoli'ry of 
th(5 ^ji</Hian ^iovcin/iH-nt to rlcjjojl, fro/n li«;lj/inn) a. jjortion of 
tlir; civiliiin j^opnlation i'or th<; pnrpoH<; of for'-i/i^'; lh<!ni to lahor 
in <^i(ri/i;iiiy jui'l in r;on«t)ain*''l to prolcrt in ;i, fri'-nilly Hpirit 
lait nio;-;t ;-i<»|(;/inly jij.';ainHt thi;-i action." It wan <;o/jtiary to all 
pr<;''«'(h'nt aii'l a^'ainnt "tho!-;«f hnfn;in<; princif^h-n of international 
j)ra<*ti<t«; whicli li;i\'; lon^*; \)<'>'U ii<:<-(:]i\<:>i ;in'l follow<;<l hy f'ivili/<;<J 
natiojiH in llair trf!Ml;ri«;nt of non<'.onihiitunt;s in ('on'jn<;jo<l t<;r- 
ritory." if <';irri<;<l out it wonM "in all prohjihiiity ]>(; fatal to 
Ii(!l//;ian r<;li<'f work ho huni;in<'ly pl;i;)n<;<l ,ttt(\ ho HUft^jrjHHfully 
cari'icd <jijt," 

To thin it wan answ<;i('(i hy (icnitntiy \\i:i\. in iJcl^iu/n the* 
nii;iil»<r of nn<'niploy<^(i had h*;''oni«; u jjiatt<;/' for HorioUH con- 
Hid<;iation, Ix-cuwHt': thr; liritinh policy of (;x<!l union Ijad cut off 
raw inatcrialn, cloHod fh<; factoi'i<!H, hrou^ht Hclgiafi iii'luHtricH 
Ut a Htand, thrown out of cffjploynnjnt nf>wardH of 1,200,000 
Jicl^ianH, and made th(;f/i ficpcndcnt o/i puhlic relief. IJfjdej- 
Huch cf)ti(JitionH llx- ^ioveinoi- ^iiaie-ral of liruHHelH on Mareh 
ir», I DM), iHHiied ;iii oid'j- i;npoKin^ jmfjriHonr/ient or cof;reive 
lahor upon perHoriH d<'j)endin{j^ on the puhlic for relief and ta- 
fuHin^ to do work acrrordin^ lo theii- jihilitic'H, '!'<> find work for 
all HUch in liel^ium wan not [joHnihle, Notliinf^; therefore waH 
loft to do hut aHHi^n them to woik in ^jiormany. ThfjHe manHnran 
wore Htriotly in acx;ord with int(;rnational law, and had heen car- 
rio<l out "with all poHHihh; connidriration and without harsh- 
noHH." 

At an indi|L!Mation meeting in Kcw York it wan rosolved that 
"we Amei-iciin <riti/,enH in puhlic moetifitr" exfjccHH ahhorrence 



288 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

of the "fresh outrages and violations of the laws of war, the 
law of nations, and the instincts of common humanity de- 
liberately perpetrated by the German Government," and the 
Government was called on "to protest with all its force and 
earnestness against these outrages." 

The statement by Germany that the British blockade was 
solely responsible for the shortage of raw material was false. 
At the very outset of the war Dr. Walter Rathenau, in August, 
1914, suggested a plan for the conservation of the economic 
resources of Germany, and for the acquisition of the needed raw 
material by purchase in neutral countries and by seizure in the 
countries to be conquered. To put this plan in operation a new 
bureau with 36 subdivisions was created, and placed in charge 
of the Minister of War, and on the day the Germans entered 
Belgium the bureau began its work in that unhappy country. In 
obedience to 66 decrees issued in the course of two years, Bel- 
gium was stripped bare of machines and machine tools, of lathes, 
wool and linen, cotton, jute and thread, rubber, mineral and 
chemical products, locomotives and automobiles, horses, cattle, 
hides, fats and oils, of almost everything the people possessed. 
Why this was done was made clear in a speech by Herr Beumer 
in the Prussian Diet about the time of the great "slave raids." 

"Anybody," said he, "who knows the present state of things 
in Belgian industry will agree with me that it must take at 
least some years — assuming that Belgium is independent at all 
— before Belgium can ever think of competing with us in the 
world market. And anybody who has traveled as I have done, 
through the occupied districts of France, will agree with me 
that so much damage has been done to industrial property that 
no one need be a prophet in order to say that it will take more 
than ten years before we need think of France as a competitor 
or of the rcestablishment of French industry." ^ 

Protests produced no effect whatever, and on January 17, 
1917, Mr. Brand Whitlock in a long report to the Department 
of State said: 

"The deportations began in October in the Etape, at Ghent, 
and at Bruges, as my brief telegrams indicated. The policy 
spread ; the rich industrial districts of Hainaut, the mines and 

«"War Cyclopedia," p. 33. 



PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 289 

steel works about Charleroi were next attacked; now they are 
seizing men in Brabant, even in Brussels, despite some indica- 
tions and even predictions of the civil authorities that the policy 
was about to be abandoned. 

"During the last fortnight men have been impressed here in 
Brussels, but their seizures here are made evidently with much 
greater care than in the provinces, with more regard for the 
appearances. There was no public announcement of the inten- 
tion to deport, but suddenly about ten days ago certain men in 
towns whose names are on the list of chomeurs received sum- 
mons notifying them to report at one of the railway stations 
on a given day; penalties were fixed for failure to respond to 
the summons, and there was printed on the card an offer of 
employment by the German Government, either in Germany or 
Belgium. On the first day out of about 1,500 men ordered to 
present themselves at the Gare du Midi about 750 responded. 
These were examined by German physicians and 300 were 
taken. There was no disorder, a large force of mounted Uhlans 
keeping back the crowds and barring access to the station to all 
but those who had been summoned to appear. The Commission 
for Relief in Belgium had secured permission to give to each 
deported man a loaf of bread, and some of the communes pro- 
vided warm clothing for those who had none and in addition a 
small financial allowance. As by one of the ironies of life the 
winter has been more excessively cold than Belgium has ever 
known it, and while many of those who presented themselves 
were adequately protected against the cold, many of them were 
without overcoats. The men shivering from cold and fear, the 
parting from weeping wives and children, the barriers of brutal 
Uhlans, all this made the scene a pitiable and distressing one. 

"It was understood that the seizures would continue here in 
Brussels, but on Thursday last, a bitter cold day, those that had 
been convoked were sent home without examination. It is sup- 
posed that the severe weather has moved the Germans to post- 
pone the deportations." ^ 

* German War Practices, p. 55, 56. 

The etapes were the parts of Belgium under martial law. and included 
the province of western Flanders, part of eastern Flanders, and the 
region of Tournai. The remainder of the occupied part of Belgium was 
under civil government. 



CHAPTER XI 



THE PEACE NOTES 



Tuesday, the twelfth of December, 1916, was a day long 
to be remembered in Berlin, for on that day the Reichstag had 
assembled in special session to hear peace proposals, made by 
the Emperor to the Allies. Every member of that body, those 
at home and those in the trenches, had been summoned, for the 
meeting, it was said, would be "the most remarkable since the 
outbreak of the war and of world-wide historical importance." 

The Chancellor began his speech in a boastful vein, telling 
how Roumania had entered the war to roll up the German army 
in the east; how the Allies on the Somme had sought to pierce 
the German line; how the Italians had attempted to crush Aus- 
tria-Hungary; how, with God's help, the western front still 
stood, and in spite of the Roumanian campaign was stronger 
in men and material than ever before ; how, ''while on the 
Somme and on the Corso the drumfire rcsinmded, while the 
Russians launched troops against the eastern frontier of 
Transylvania," von Hindenburg captured the whole of western 
Wallachia and the capital of Bucharest ; and how great stores 
of grain, food, oil, had fallen into German hands in Roumania 
and had put the abundance of their own supplies beyond ques- 
tion. 

He told how on the sea the submarine had brought to the 
Allies the specter of famine they had intended should appear 
before Germany; and how the Reichstag by "the national 
auxiliary war service law" had built up "a new offensive and 
defensive bulwark in the midst of the great struggle," Behind 
the fighting army stood the nation at work. The Empire was 
not, as its enemies fondly imagined, a besieged fortress, but 
"one gigantic and firmly disciplined camp with inexhaustible 
resources." 

The enemies of Germany, he said, had accused her of seek- 

290 



THE PEACE NOTES SQl 

ing to conquer the whole world. TJimioved hy these accusations 
she had gone on always ready to fight for her existence, her 
free future, always ready "for this prize to stretch out her hand 
for peace." Therefore, moved by "a deep moral and religious 
sense of duty towards his nation, and, beyond it, towards hu- 
manity, the Emperor now considers that the moment has come 
for official action," and had decided to propose to the Allied 
Powers *'to enter into peace negotiations." He had that morn- 
ing transmitted to all the hostile Powers "a note to this effect." 

The Chancellor then read the note and continued, "To-day 
we raise the question of peace, which is a question of humanity." 

While the Chancellor was speaking, the Emperor announced 
to the army and navy that "in agreement with the sovereigns 
of my allies and the consciousness of victory, I have made an 
offer of peace to the enemy. Whether it will be accepted is still 
uncertain. Until that moment arrives you will fight on." 

The note was to be transmitted to Serbia by the ISTetherlands 
Minister ; to Italy, Belgium, and Portugal by the Swiss Minis- 
ter, and to Great Britain and France by our Ambassadors at 
London and Paris. 

On receij^t of official copies at Washington it was proposed 
to send with the note an appeal to consider the peace proposal 
favorably and hold a conference ; but a wiser course was taken 
and the note was formally delivered by Ambassador Page in 
London and Ambassador Sharp in Paris without comment. 

"Our aims," said Germany and her allies in their joint 
note, "are not to shatter nor annihilate our adversaries. In 
spite of our consciousness of our military and economic strength 
and our readiness to continue the war (which has been forced 
upon us) to the bitter end, if necessary, at the same time, 
prompted by the desire to avoid further bloodshed and make an 
end to the atrocities of war, the four allied Powers propose to 
enter forthwith into peace negotiations." 

The four allied Powers had been forced to take arms in de- 
fense of "justice and the liberty of national evolution." Ger- 
many and her allies, "Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey," 
had "given proof of their unconquerable strength in this strug- 
gle." They had gained "gigantic advantages over adversaries 
superior in number and war material." Their lines stood un- 



292 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

shaken. The last attack in the Balkans had been victoriously 
overcome. The resistance of their forces could not be over- 
come, and the whole situation justified their "expectation of 
further successes." 

"If in spite of this offer of peace/' the war went on, they 
were resolved to fight to a victorious end. 

Russia, the first to answer the German note, declared in 
resolutions adopted by the Duma, that she favored a flat refusal, 
by the Allies, to "enter into any peace negotiations whatever." 
To her the projDOsal of Germany was a new proof of the weak- 
ness of the enemy and "a hypocritical act from which the enemy 
expects no real success." 

France made her answer on the field of battle, where De- 
cember 15, 1916, she won another great victory before Verdun, 
drove back the German lines, captured some 11,000 prisoners, 
reoccupied almost all the ground lost since February, and dis- 
proved the claim of the Chancellor that the western line stood 
unshaken. 

In England a change of ministry had just taken place; Mr. 
Asquith had retired; Lloyd George on December 7 had kissed 
the King's hand and become Prime Minister, and as such on 
December 19 made his speech in Parliament outlining his 
policy. In the course of it he said: 

There has been some talk about proposals of peace. What are 
the proposals? There are none. To enter, on the invitation of 
Germany, proclaiming herself victorious, without any knowledge of 
the proposals she proposes to make, into a conference is to put our 
heads into a noose with the rope end in the hands of Germany. . . . 

We feel we ought to know, before we can give favorable consid- 
eration to such an invitation, that Germany is prepared to accede 
to the only terms on which it is possible for peace to be obtained 
and maintained in Europe. What are these terms? [In the words 
of his right honorable friend they were,] "Restitution, reparation, 
guarantee against repetition." 

President Wilson, meantime, without any knowledge of 
what the Kaiser was about to do, had it in mind to appeal to 
the belligerents to state what they were fighting for, in the hope 
that their statements of their objects might become the basis 
of peace. He now wrote the note, and on December 18 sent it 



THE PEACE NOTES 293 

to the warring Powers. Our diplomatic representatives to 
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria were to say: 

The suggestion which I am instructed to make the President has 
long had it in mind to offer. He is somewhat embarrassed to offer 
it at this particular time because it may now seem to have been 
prompted by a desire to play a part in connection with the recent 
overtures of the Central Powers. It has, in fact, been in no way 
suggested by them in its origin, and the President would have 
delayed offering it until those overtures had been independently 
answered but for the fact that it also contains the question of peace 
and may best be considered in connection with other proposals which 
have the same end in view. The President can only beg that his 
suggestion be considered entirely on its own merits and as if it had 
been made in other circumstances. 

In the notes to the Allies this paragraph was replaced by 
one identical in substance but not quite the same in words. 
With this exception all the notes were alike. 

The President suggests that an early occasion be sought to call 
out from all the nations now at war such an avowal of their respective 
views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded and 
the arrangements which would be deemed satisfactory as a guarantee 
against its renewal or the kindling of any similar conflict in the 
future as would make it possible frankly to compare them. 

By what particular means this should be brought about the 
President cared not. Any means would be acceptable to him if 
only the great object he had in mind was accomplished. The 
belligerents on both sides he believed had virtually the same 
objects in mind. Each side desired to make the rights of weak 
peoples and small states as safe against aggression in the future 
as were the rights of the great and powerful states then at war. 
Each side Avas opposed to the formation of more rival leagues to 
preserve an uncertain balance of power. Each was ready to 
consider a league of nations to insure the peace of the world. 
But the issues of the present war must first be settled on such 
terms as would safeguard the independence, the territorial in- 
tegrity and the political and commercial freedom of nations in- 
volved. 

"In the measures to be taken to secure the future peace of 
the world the people and Government of the United States are as 



294 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

vitally and as directly interested as the Governments now at 
war." They were ready and eager to cooperate in accomplish- 
ing these ends when the war was over. "But the war must first 
he concluded." Therefore the President felt "justified in sug- 
gesting an immediate opportunity for a comparison of views as 
to the terms which must precede those ultimate arrangements 
for the peace of the world" which all desired. 

If the contest must continue to proceed towards undefined ends 
hy slow attrition until one group of belligerents or 'the other is 
exhausted; if million after million of human lives must continue to 
be offered up until on the one side or the .other there are no more 
to offer; if resentments must be kindled that can never cool and 
despairs engendered from wbich there can be no recovery, hopes of 
peace and of the willing concert of free peoples will be rendered vain 
and idle. 

Every part of the great family of mankind had felt the 
burden and terror of the war, "and yet the concrete object for 
which it is being waged has never been definitely stated." 

"The leaders of the several belligerents" had "stated those 
objects in general terms," and stated in such terms they seemed 
to be the same on both sides. But never yet had "the authorita- 
tive spokesmen of either side" stated precisely what would sat- 
isfy them. The world had been "left to conjecture what definite 
results, what actual exchange of guarantees, what political or 
territorial changes or readjustments, what stage of military suc- 
cesses even, would bring the war to an end." He was not pro- 
posing peace, nor offering mediation, but suggesting that sound- 
ings be taken that neutral and warring nations might know 
"how near the haven of peace may be." 

What caused the President to make his unexpected move 
was, however, a matter of speculation. This Mr. Lansing sought 
to explain by a statement, that it was "not our material inter- 
est we had in mind when the note was sent, but more and more 
our own rights are becoming involved by the belligerents on 
both sides, so that the situation is becoming increasingly critical. 

"I mean by that that we are drawing nearer the verge of 
war ourselves, and, therefore, we are entitled to know exactly 
what each belligerent seeks in order that we may negotiate our 
conduct in the future." 



THE PEACE NOTES 295 

Xo nation has been sounded. Xo consideration of the 
German overtures, or the speech of Lloyd George, was taken 
into account. The only effect of the overtures v^as to delay it a 
few days. "The sending of this note will indicate the possi- 
bility of our being forced into the war. That possibility ought 
to serve as a restraining and sobering force safeguarding 
American rights. It may also serve to force an earlier conclu- 
sion of the war. jSTeither the President nor myself regards this 
note as a peace note.'' 

Stocks, which began to decline as soon as the German pro- 
posal was known, now fell sharply, and hearing of this and that 
a belief existed that the President had acted because the country 
was about to be drawn into the war, Mr. Lansing later in the 
day made a new statement. He had, he said, been misunder- 
stood. "My intention was to suggest the very direct and nec- 
essary interest which this country as one of the neutral nations 
has in the possible terms which the belligerents may have in 
mind, and I did not intend to intimate that the Government was 
considering any change in its policy of neutrality, which it has 
consistently pursued in the face of constantly increasing difficul- 
ties." 

IsTot until December thirtieth was the reply of the Entente 
Powers to the German peace note handed to our Ambassador at 
Paris, and not until January 4, 1917, was it delivered to Ger- 
many by our Ambassador at Berlin. 

The Allied Governments, Belgium, France, Great Britain, 
Italy, Japan, IMontenegro, Portugal, Eoumania, Russia, and 
Serbia, faithful to their pledges "not to lay down their arms 
separately," had "resolved to reply collectively to the pre- 
tended proposals of peace." They protested against two asser- 
tions in the note, against that which attempted to throw on the 
Entente Powers the responsibility for the war, and against that 
which proclaimed the victory of the Central Powers. The Al- 
lied Powers had sustained for thirty months a war they did 
everything possible to avoid. Their attachment to peace was 
still as strong as in 1914, but it was "not upon the word of 
Germany, after the violation of its engagements, that the peace 
broken by her may be based." 

"A mere suggestion, without a statement of terms, that 



290 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

negotiations should be opened, is not an offer of peace." It was 
a sham proposal. It lacked all substance and precision. It was 
"less an offer of peace than a war maneuver." It was nothing 
more than an attempt to end the Xvar ''by imposing a German 
peace" ; an effort to stiffen public opinion in Germany and in 
countries allied to her, coimtries sorely "tried by losses, worn 
out by economic pressure, crushed by the supreme effort im- 
posed upon their people" ; an attempt to deceive public opinion 
in neutral countries whose peoples had long since made up 
their minds as to the origin of the war and were too enlightened 
to help the designs of Germany by abandoning the defense of 
human freedom; an attempt, finally, to justify a new series of 
crimes, submarine warfare, deportations, forced labor and viola- 
tions of neutrality. The Allies in short refused "to consider a 
proposal which is empty and insincere" ; declared "that no 
peace is possible so long as they have not secured reparation for 
violated rights and liberties" ; so long as "the principles of na- 
tionality and the free existence of small states" were not recog- 
nized ; so long as the forces which constituted a perpetual menace 
to the nations had not been destroyed, and the security of the 
world fully guaranteed. 

The note closed with a review of the "special situation of • 
Belgium" after two and a half years of war, how her integrity 
had been guaranteed by treaties signed by five European Pow- 
ers, of whom Germany was one; how, in spite of these 
treaties, she was the first to suffer from German aggression; 
how, on August fourth, in the Keichstag, the German Chancel- 
lor had admitted this aggression, and pledged himself in the 
name of Germany to repair it ; how, during two and a half years, 
"this injustice" had been cruelly aggravated by the occupying 
army which "exhausted the resources of the country, ruined its 
industries, devastated its towns and villages," and "was re- 
sponsibile for innumerable massacres, executions, and imprison- 
ments," and how at the very moment Germany was "proclaim- 
ing peace and humanity to the world" she was deporting Bel- 
gian citizens by thousands. 

To this the Kaiser made reply in a general order to his army 
and navy. He had offered to enter, he said, into peace ne- 
gotiations. His enemies had refused. The war therefore would 



THE PEACE NOTES 297 

continue. "Before God and humanity I declare that on the 
Governments of our enemies alone falls the heavy responsibility 
for all the further terrible sacrifices from which I wished to 
save you. 

''With justified indignation at our enemies' arrogant crime 
and with determination to defend our holiest possessions and 
secure for the Fatherland a happy future, you will become as 
steel. 

"Our enemies did not want the understanding offered by 
me. With God's help our arms will enforce it." 

At home the note of the President was both denounced and 
supported. Those who sympathized with the Allies declared 
it to be meddlesome, untimely, ill advised. Whether it was 
a peace note or a war note they were at a loss to know. "If," 
said Mr. Roosevelt, "the note was designed merely to promote 
an early conclusion of peace, it was untimely, irritating and 
dangerous. If on the other hand, as Mr. Lansing first inter- 
preted it, it was a threat of war and foreshadowed the end of 
American neutrality, it was not only dangerous but profoundly 
mischievous." The note took positions "so profoundly immoral 
and misleading that high-minded and right-thinking American 
citizens, whose country this note places in a thoroughly false 
light, in honor are bound to protest." To say that the Germans 
who had trampled Belgium under foot and were transporting 
ten thousand Belgians into slavery were fighting for the same 
object as their victims who fought for their country, their 
homes, their wives and their children, was "not only a false- 
hood, but a callous and most immoral falsehood." 

Partisans of the President upheld his act as likely to bring 
peace, and introduced in the Senate, December twentieth, a 
resolution that "the Senate approves and strongly endorses the 
action taken by the President in sending the diplomatic notes 
of December eighteenth to the nations now engaged in war, sug- 
gesting and recommending that those nations state the terms 
upon which peace might be discussed." 

To adopt the resolution in this form, its opponents claimed, 
would commit the United States to an international league to 
enforce peace, would be an abandonment of the doctrine of 
neutrality established by Washington, an abandonment of the 



298 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

doctrine of Monroe, and would pliiuge the United States into 
the political complications and entangling alliances of Europe. 
When adopted the resolution had heen modified to read: ''Re- 
solved: That the Senate approves and strongly endorses the re- 
quest of the President in the diplomatic notes of December 
eighteenth to the nations now engaged in w^ar that those nations 
state the terms iipon which peace might be discussed." 

Germany and Austria-Hungary replied to the President's 
note on the same day, December 26, 19 IG. The Imperial 
Government believed the best way to reach the desired result 
would be by a direct exchange of views, and suggested "the 
speedy assembly, on neutral ground, of delegates of the warring 
states." The great work for the prevention of future wars 
could not be taken up until the end "of the present conflict of 
exhaustion." When that time came Germany would be ready 
"to cooperate with the United States in this sublime task." 

Austria-Hungary also believed a direct exchange of views 
by the belligerents was the most suitable way of attaining peace, 
and proposed "that representatives of the belligerent powers 
convene at an early date at some place on neutral ground." 
She also, when the present war was over, was ready "to under- 
take the great and desirable work of the prevention of future 
wars." 

The Swiss Federal Council was "glad to seize the oppor- 
tunity to support the efforts of the President of the United 
States." True to the obligations of strict neutrality, a friend 
to the States of both the warring groups, placed "like an island 
amid the seething waters of the terrible world war," with its 
"ideal and material interests sensibly jeopardized and vio- 
lated," Switzerland was filled with a deep longing for peace 
and ready to do her small part to stop the endless sufferings 
caused by the war. 

The Il^orwegian Government had every hope that the in- 
itiative of the President would bring results worthy of the high 
purpose which 'inspired it. Greece longed for peace, heard with 
the liveliest interest of the steps taken by the President to end 
the long and cruel war, and would gladly accede to his noble 
demand but was powerless. Spain expressed her sympathy, but 
declined to cooperate. "The action to which the United States 



THE PEACE NOTES 299 

invites Spain would not have efficacy, the more so because the 
Central Powers have already expressed their firm determina- 
tion to discuss the conditions of peace solely with the belligerent 
Powers." 

As the new year opened there began to come, from abroad, 
rumors concerning what sort of a reply the Allies w^ould make 
to the peace note of the President. Mr. Hall Caine, in a letter 
to the Philadelphia Public Ledger, reported that when M. 
Elbot left London on December twenty-eighth he carried with 
him a draft of the reply, that it would have to be sent to each 
of the Allies, including Japan, and that their approval or 
changes would have to be sent to Paris before the note could be 
telegraphed to Washington. Despite the harsh criticism the 
peace note met with in London, Paris and Petrograd, he was 
sure the reply would be appreciative and even grateful in tone. 
But he did not think the Allies would recognize the right of 
America to force on a peace because of the loss of the lives and 
property should the German submarine war take on a form of 
ruthless inhumanity. 

Mr. Frederick Scott Oliver in a long article in the London 
Times insisted that there should be no bargaining, no yielding. 
The President, said he, believes that if the belligerents would 
state their terms of peace the war would be a deal nearer its 
end. It was true, as the President pointed out, that the con- 
crete objects of the war had never been definitely stated. This 
was because the objects of the war were not concrete; could not 
be stated and defined in diplomatic language; could not be 
listed, and bargained for ; did "not belong to the same order of 
things as indemnities, cessions, or retrocessions of territory." 
The Allies had already set forth before the world "the three 
general objects for which they are fighting, and which under 
God they are determined to achieve : restitution, reparation and 
security. But the greatest of these is security." No league of 
nations could "insure peace or justice in the future unless the 
German army is beaten in the present war." 

The London Times in an editorial said : 

We are convinced that the ends for which the Allies are fighting 
to-day are as high and sacred as those for which Americang fought 
and died two generations ago. They are in the last resort the same 



300 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

assured supremacy of right and freedom before the law. We be- 
lieve that if the true character of our cause were once brought home 
to the American masses American opinion would support it warmly, 
as British and French opinion supported emancipation in 1863. 

Mr. Wilson's note affords us a great opportunity for laying our 
case before Americans in words which cannot be misunderstood. We 
trust it will be used to show, in sharp contrast, our aims and the 
aims of our enemies, that they may stand out sharp and clear in 
American eyes, as the contrast between the cause of freedom and 
the cause of bondage stood before our eyes when Lincoln invoked 
the "considerate judgment of mankind" upon his liberating edict. 

The FranJi'furter Zeilung reported that in a speech in Buda- 
pest, on New Year's day, Count Julius Andrassy, one time 
Premier of Hungary,', said: 

If the Allies reject our offer of peace only because, as they say, 
our offer is not honorably meant, is only a maneuver. If they say 
they cannot ent^ into negotiations before they know our conditions, 
they can learn them from President Wilson, to whom#they will be 
communicated. 

While the press of Great Britain an(] the United States was 
guessing what would be the Entente reply. Ambassador Gerard, 
who had just returned to Berlin from a visit to Washington, 
was dined by the American Association of Commerce and 
Trade. Dignitaries of all sorts were present: Dr. Helfferich, 
Imperial Vice Chancellor ; the Vice President of the Reichstag ; 
the Secretaries for the Colonies ; the Foreign Secretary ; bankers, 
financiers, leaders in public life. To them the Ambassador was 
reported to have said: 

Never since the beginning of the war have the relations between 
Germany and the United States been as cordial as now. I have 
brought back an olive branch from the President, or don't you con- 
sider the President's message an olive branch ? I personally am con- 
vinced that so long as Germany's fate is directed by sucli men as my 
friend the Chancellor and Doctor Helfferich and Doctor Solf, by 
Admirals von Capelle, Holtzendorff and von Mueller, by Generals 
von Hindenburg and Ludendorff, and last, but not least, by my friend 
Zimmermann, the relations between the two countries are running 
no risk. 

In Germany the speech was welcomed, as a proof of the 
wish for a continuance of good understanding, but was hotly 



THE PEACE NOTES SOI 

attacked Ly the Pau-Germaus. Wlij, said one, should Ameri- 
cans not be filled with kindly feelings for Germany so long as 
she does everything America wishes ? He asserts that no dif- 
ficulties will arise while a number of specially mentioned men 
stand at the head of the German Government. He thereby inti- 
mates that any departure from directions hitherto followed 
may endanger the existing friendship. Such peace messages 
are suspicious. In saying that so long as certain men remain 
in office there is no danger of unfriendly relations, Gerard's 
words, said another journal, must be filled out thus, ''but if 
other men come who do not suit us, then the threat is unmis- 
takable." "From the Anibassador's words it must be concluded 
that a far-reaching, unpublished agreement exists between Ger- 
many and the United States, and the latter country having 
reached its political aim regarding Germany, the fact is being 
celebrated in Berlin by a great demonstration." 

To these criticisms a reply was made in a dispatch from 
Berlin to the Frankfurter Zeitung, a dispatch said to have been 
semi-official or inspired by Government. The Pan-Germans, it 
said, "see ghosts when they show such anxiety about an under- 
standing pending with the United States as to how ruthless sub- 
marine warfare may be avoided. 

"The majority of the German press and people desire good 
relations with the United States, and w^ould rejoice if an agree- 
ment were reached on the question of armed merchantmen. 
Count von Reventlow's assumption that the dinner in Berlin 
celebrated the attainment by tlie United States of its political 
ends is an exaggeration both of the occasion and of what is now 
negotiating between Germany and the United States." The 
mention by name of German statesmen, generals and admirals 
was perhaps not diplomatic but was well meant. 

That it was not diplomatic seems to have been the opinion of 
Secretary Lansing who let it be known that the Ambassador 
had been called on to state if his speech had been correctly re- 
ported. In any event, what he said was on his own responsi- 
bility. 

And now the long-aw^aited reply of the Allies to the Presi; 
dent's note was announced as ready. Dispatches from London 
and Paris on January tenth stated that Premier Briand had 



302 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

delivered it to Ambassador Sharp, and that it would not be 
made public until forty-eight hours after its i^eceipt by the 
President. January 12, accordingly, it appeared in the news- 
papers. 

The Allies, the note set forth, heartily approved of the crea- 
tion of a league of nations to insure peace and justice through- 
out the world, and desired as sincerely as did the Government 
of the United States to end as soon as possible a war for which 
the Central Powers were responsible and which inflicted such 
cruel sufferings on humanity. But they did not believe it pos- 
sible, at that time, to obtain such a peace as would assure rep- 
arations, restitutions, and such guarantees as were necessary to 
establish the future of European nations on a solid basis. 

The Allies were fully aware of the losses and suffering the 
war was causing to neutrals, and deplored them ; but were not 
responsible, for in no way had they either desired or provoked 
the war. The Allies must therefore, '4n the most friendly but 
in the most specific manner, protest against the association in 
the American note of the two groups of belligerents, an asso- 
ciation based on public declarations of the Central Powers, in 
direct opposition to the evidence both as regards responsibility 
for the past and as concerns guarantees for the future." 

!No fact was better established than "the willful aggression 
of Germany and Austria-Hungary to insure their hegemony 
over Europe and their economic domination over the world. 
Germany proved by her declaration of war, by the immediate 
invasion of Belgium and Luxemburg, and by her manner of 
conducting the war, her systematic contempt for all principles 
of humanity and all respect for small states." Was it neces- 
sary to recall the invasion of Serbia and Belgium; the mas- 
sacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians; the barbarous 
treatment of the people of Syria; the Zeppelin raids on open 
towns ; the sinking, by submarines, of passenger steamships and 
merchantmen under neutral flags; the cruel treatment of 
prisoners of war ; the judicial murders of Edith Cavell and Cap- 
tain Fryatt; the deportation and enslavement of civilians? All 
these crimes would fully explain to President Wilson the pro- 
test of the Allies against being grouped with the Central Powers. 

But the President wished that the belligerent Powers state 



THE PEACE NOTES 303 

what they sought by continuing the war. They sought the "res- 
toration of Belgium, of Serbia, of Montenegro, and the in- 
demnities due them ; the evacuation of the invaded territories 
of France, Russia, and Eoumania, with just reparation" ; the 
''reorganization of Europe guaranteed by a stable regime, and 
founded as much on respect of nationalities and full security 
and liberty of economic development" as upon "territorial con- 
ventions and international conventions and international agree- 
ments." 

They demanded the restoration of provinces wrested from 
the Allies in the past; the liberation of Italians, Slavs, Rou- 
manians, Tcheco Slovaks from foreign domination; "the en- 
franchisement of peoples subject to the bloody tyranny of the 
Turks," and the expulsion from Europe of the Ottoman Em- 
pire. 

With the note from the Entente Powers came one from 
Belgium. The Government of the King, it said, desired to pay 
tribute "to the sentiment which prompted the President of the 
Unitecl States to send his note to the belligerent Powers." But 
the President seemed "to believe that the statesmen of the two 
opposing camps pursue the same objects of war." The -example 
of Belgium unhappily showed this was not the case. The barbar- 
ous manner in which Germany had treated, and was still treat- 
ing, Belgium, did not justify the belief that Germany would 
g-uarantee in the future the rights of the weak nations she had 
not ceased to trample under foot since the war began. When an- 
nouncing to the Reichstag the violation of treaties by the in- 
vasion of Belgium the Chancellor of the Empire had been 
forced to recognize the iniquity of the act and had promised 
reparation. But, since the occupation the Germans had shown 
no better observance of international law or the stipulations of 
The Hague convention. They had by taxation, as heavy as it 
was arbitrary, drained the resources of the country; they had 
deliberately ruined its industries, destroyed entire cities, put to 
death a large number of the people, and while loudly proclaim- 
ing their desire to end the horrors of war had added to rigors of 
occupation by deporting into slavery thousands of Belgian work- 
en's. If ever there was a country that had a right to say it had 
taken up arms to defend its life that country was Belgium. 



304 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Forced to ii^ht or submit to slianio," she passionately desired that 
an end be put to the unprecedented sutferings of her people ; but 
she could accept no peace which did not assure her reparation, 
security and guarantees for the future. 

On the day on which Ambassador Sharp, at Paris, received 
these two notes from the Entente Powers, Ambassador Gerard 
at Berlin was handed a copy of a note addressed to neutral na- 
tions by the Central Powers. It was their reply to the answer 
of the Allies to the German peace ]u-o]iosals of December 
twelfth. 

"Our adversaries," so ran the note, "declined this proposi- 
tion, giving as a reason that it is a propositicm without sincerity 
and without importance. The form in which they cl(^th(» their 
communication exchules an answer to \hv\\\, but the Imperial 
Government considers it important to ])oint out to the Govern- 
ments of neutral Powers its opinion regarding the situation." 

It was needless to enter into a discussion of the origin of the 
war. The encircling policy of England, the revengeful policy 
of France, the endeavor of Pussia tt^ gain Constantino])le, the 
instigation of the Serbian assassination in Serajevo, and the 
complete mobilization of Russia meant war against Germany. 
According to the declaration of the responsible statesmen of the 
hostile Powers their aims were "directed toward the conquest 
of Alsace-Lorraine and several Prussian provinces, the humilia- 
tion and diminution of the Austro-IIungarian monarchy, the 
partition of Turkey and the mutilation of Bulgaria. 

"In the face of such war aims, the demand for restitution, 
reparation and giuirantees in the mouth of our adversaries" was 
surprising. The Allies had declared that peace was impossible 
"so long as the rei'stablishment of violated rights and liberties, 
the recognition of the principle of nationalities and the free 
existence of small states were not guaranteed." The sincerity 
of the Allies would not be admitted by the world, while it held 
before its eyes "the fate of the Jrish people, the destruction of 
the I>oer republics, the subjugation of northern Africa by Eng- 
land, France and Italy, the suppression of Russian alien nations, 
and the violation of Greece, which is without precedent in his- 
tory." 

The war of starvation against Germany, the treatment of 



TIIK P]':ACK notes 305 

neutrals by England, the use of colored troops in Europe, the 
extension of the war to Africa, the barbarous treatment of 
prisoners of war in Africa and Ilussia, the deportation of 
civilian populations from eastern Prussia, Alsace- Lorraine, 
Galicia, and JJukowina were so many proofs of the insincerity 
of the Allies in their complaint against the situation in Belgium. 
On Belgium and those who instigated her to take her attitude 
fell the responsibility for her fate. 

Having made an honest effort to end the wai- and ojk.'u the 
way for an understanding between the belligerents, the Imperial 
Government left it with its adversaries to decide whether the 
road to peace should, or should not be followed. 

Various opinions were held by our countrymen as to the 
meaning of the Entente reply. Home thought it a frank and 
specific answer to the re(juest (jf the Bresid(;nt, and c(nupared it 
favorably with the flat refusal of Germany to state terms. 
Others held that while it met the Pr(!sident half way, it set 
forth clearly that tlu; Allies were lighting for a cause, that they 
were unwilling to make peace until they had accomplished the 
objects for which they were })ledg(!d, that no c(jm])i'omise was 
possible, and that for th(.' present the d(jor was closed to peace. 
Still others claimed that sti'ippcd of its diplomatic language 
the note was as blunt a rebuke to the President for meddling as 
was the note fr(jm Germany. 

The delivery of the reply from the Entente Powers was fol- 
lowed by a note from Great Britain supplementing and ex- 
plaining that from the Allies, It was signed by Balfour, the 
British Minister for Foreign Affairs, and brought to the De- 
partment of State by the British ^Minister. 

His Majesty's Government shared the earnest desire of the 
President for a speedy and lasting peace; but no peace could 
long endure if tbe foundations were defective. The calamities 
frc;m which the world was suffering arose from the existence of 
great Powers consumed by the lust of dominion, in the midst 
of nations ill prepared for defense, and though plentifully sup- 
plied with international laws, with no means of enforcing them ; 
nations whose boundaries and internal constitutions did not 
harmonize with the aspirations of their constituent races. This 
latter evil could be mitigated if the Allies secured the changes 



'M)6 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

in the map of Europe outlined in their joint note. The exis- 
tence of the Turkish empire had long been considered essential 
to the peace of Europe. It could no longer he so considered. 
In the hands of Germany it had ceased to be a bulwark of peace 
and had become an instrument of conquest. Led by German of- 
ficers, Turkish soldiers were fighting in lands from which they 
had long ago been expelled. A Turkish Government con- 
trolled and subsidized by Germany had perpetrated in Armenia 
and Syria massacres more horrible than any ever before known 
in those unhappy countries. Evidently the interests of peace 
require the exjjulsiou of Turkey from Europe as much as the 
restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France, or Italia Irredenta to 
Jtaly. 

These territorial changes would lessen the occasion for war, 
but w^ould afford no security against its recurrence. If Ger- 
many again set out to rule the world she might find war more 
difficult but not impossible, she might still have ready at hand 
a political system organized through and through on a military 
basis ; she might still persist in her methods of attack and strike 
down her more pacific neighbors before they could prepare for 
defense. If so, Europe, when the war is over, would be poorer 
in men, in money, in good will, than wdien it began, but no safer, 
and the hope of the President for the future of the world would 
be as far as ever from realization. While other nations, while 
the United States and Great Britain were seeking by treaties 
of arbitration to make sure that no chance quarrel should de- 
stroy the peace they wished to be everlasting, Germany stood 
aloof. Her philosophers and historians preached the splendors 
of war, and proclaimed power as the end of the State, and her 
General Staif forged the weapons by which power might be ob- 
tained. So long as Germany remained the Germany which 
without the shadow of justification overran and barbarously ill- 
used a country she was bound by treaty to protect, no state could 
be secure if its rights had no better protection than a treaty. 

The brutal methods of the Central Powers were designed 
not merely to crush into the dust those with whom they were at 
war, but to terrorize those with whom they were at peace. Bel- 
gium was not only a victim, but an example. It was intended 
thnt neutrals should note the outrages which accompanied its 



THE PEACE NOTES 307 

occupation, the reign of terror, the deportation of some of the 
people, the oppression of the rest. And lest nations, protected 
by the British fleets or their own, should think themselves safe 
from German methods, the submarine imitated the barbarous 
methods of the army. 

No peace could last unless the existing causes of interna- 
tional unrest were removed or weakened ; unless the aggressive 
aims and unscrupulous methods of the Central Powers should 
fall into disrepute among their own people ; unless behind inter- 
national law, behind all treaties for preventing hostilities some 
form of international sanction should be devised which would 
make the hardiest aggressor pause. 

The very day this note was delivered at Washington, the 
British x\dmiralty announced that a German raider was in the 
Atlantic, that it had sunk eight British and two French mer- 
chantmen, and had captured two, that "the Japanese Hudson 
Maru'' had reached Pernambuco with 237 officers and men from 
the lost ships, and that the others, some 450 in number, had 
been placed on the captured steamer Yarrowdale. 

The captain of the Dramatist, one of the ships destroyed 
by the raider, on reaching Pernambuco on the Hudson Maru, 
stated that December 18 he sighted a steamer going in the same 
direction as his ; that early in the afternoon she drew alongside, 
broke out the German naval ensign, dropped her sides under 
the forecastle bulwarks, revealing two guns trained on the 
Dramatist, and called on him to surrender. The Dramatist was 
then boarded and, after her crew was transferred to the raider, 
was torpedoed. Later part of the crew was sent to the Hudson 
Maru and orders given to follow the raider till January 12 and 
then proceed to Pernambuco. Reports from Buenos Aires 
added eleven ships, British, French and Danish, to the list given 
out by the Admiralty. The Yarrowdale with 469 prisoners, of 
whom 72 were Americans, reached a German port in safety. 

To the astonishment of the country the President now 
appeared, unexpectedly, before the Senate, and delivered an 
address which amazed Europe. 

On December 18, he said, he addressed an "identical note" 
to the Governments of all nations at war, asking for a more 
definite statement than had vet been made of the terms on 



.MOS TTIF. r\TTi:i^ STATF.S T\ THE Wc^KI.l) WAR 

which it wouKl he [>ossihK> (o makr jiciu'c. lie "spoke Oil 
h('h;ilt' of humniiilv, df i\\c riu'hts of ;ill ucnti'al nations," many 
ot" \vhi>st> "\ilal iiiU'icsts i\\c war put in i-onstant ji'opardy." 
'V\\o (\Mitral TowiM's n-jiru'd nuToly that thoy whm'o roady ti> 
nioct ihi'ir antagonists and div^onss tornis of jH'ai'O. The 
KntiMitc Towors liad stated in iivnoval forms "tho afrani^vmonts, 
i^uaranU'os and ai'Is ot" reparation" nooossary to a sottU'niont. 

rho pi\u'o I hat wonUl I'nd tho war nuist bo t'olKnvod hy a 
"iK'tiniio oonoiMi ol' TowiM-s" whioh wouKl "niako it vii'tually 
impossil)K> that any suoh oatasti'opho shonUl ovor ovorwhohn us 
again." In that tho I'uitod Statos nuist phiy a part. It was 
right htdoro suoh a sottlomont oamo that our Covornmont shmiKl 
t'rankly stato the oonditiiuis on whioh "it would I'otd justitiiul in 
asking mir pooplo to a[iprovo its tornial and soKunu atlhoronoo 
to a l.oagno tor ronoo." lli> had oon\o to stato those eonditions. 

I'^irst ot" all there "nuist he a peaee witlunit \ietory. . . . 
Vii'tory would moan peaee toreotl upon tiio losi>r, a vietor's 
terms Toreoil upon {\\o vanipiished. It would be aeeepted in 
huniiliation, under duress, at an intol(>rable saeritiee, anil would 
leave a sting, a resentment, a hitter luiMuory upon whieh terms 
of poaet^ would rest, not {>ei'nianently, but only upon quieksand. 
C^nlv a peaee hotwotMi equals ean last." 

The eqiuilitv ot" nations on whieh peaei\ to be lasting, nmst 
rt'st nnist be an equality ol" rights, resting "on the eonnnon 
strength, not the individual strcMigth. o( \\\o nations on whose 
eoneiM't peaee will diqieml." Ihit there was "a deeper thing 
involved than (>vtMi equality ot" right among organized nations. 
Xo peaee I'au last, or ouulit to last, whieh diH^s not voeoi»iiize 
and aeeept the priueipU> that go\iM'nnuMits dorivt^ all their just 
powers t"roni the otuiseut ot' the govtM'ned, and that no right 
anvwhere exists to hand peiq>les abiuit from sovereignty to 
sovereignty, as if they weri' property." 

Tie took it t"or granted, to take one example, that statesmen 
oviM'vwhere were "agreed that tlu>re sh(>uld be a unitoil, inde- 
pendent, autonomous Poland, and that heneefortli inviolable 
seenrity o( life. o\ worship and o\' iuilustrial ami sooial devel- 
i^pment slunihl bi^ guaranteed to all peoples who have hitherto 
livtnl under the power oH governments ilevoted to a faith and 
purposo hostile to their own." 



THE PEACE NOTES 309 

So far as practicable every great people should "be assured 
a direct outlet to the great highways of the sea. Where it can- 
not be done by the cession of territory, it can no doubt be done 
by neutralization of direct highways under the general gTiar- 
antees which will assure the peace itself." 

The "paths of the sea must alike in law and in fact be free. 
The freedom of the seas is the sine qua non of peace, equality, 
and cooperation." 

There must be concession and sacrifice. ISTo safety or 
equality among nations was possible "if great preponderating 
armaments are henceforth to continue, here and there, to be 
built up and maintained." The question of armaments, 
whether on land or sea, was the most "intensely practical (|ues- 
tion connected with the future fortunes of nations and man- 
kind." 

He was sure he had said what the people of the United 
States would wish him to say. He hoped he spoke for the 
friends of humanity everywhere. "I would fain believe that 
J am speaking for the silent masses of mankind everywhere, 
who have as yet had no place or opportunity to speak their 
real hearts out concerning the death and ruin they see to have 
come already upon the persons and the homes they hold most 
dear." 

Holding out the expectation that our country would join 
the other civilized nations in guaranteeing the permanence of 
peace on the terms he named would, he thought, be no breach 
in our traditions or our policy as a nation. He was proposing 
"that the nations, with one accord, adopt the doctrine of Presi- 
dent Monroe as the doctrine of the world ; that no nation should 
seek to extend its policy over any other nation or people, but 
that every people should be left free to determine its own 
policy, its own development, unhindered, unthreatened, un- 
afraid, the little along with the great and powerful." 

He was "proposing government by the consent of the gov- 
erned; that freedom of the seas which in international con- 
ference after conference representatives of the United States 
have urged with the eloquence of those who are the convinced 
disciples of liberty; and that moderation of armaments which 



310 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

makes of armies and navies a power for order merely, not an 
instrument of aggression or of selfish violence. 

"These are American principles, American policies. We 
can stand for no others. They are also the principles and 
policies of forward-looking men and women everywhere, of 
every modern nation, of every enlightened community. They 
are the principles of mankind and must prevail." 

By those who listened to this remarkable address it was 
received with mingled feelings of astonishment, approval and 
dissent. Some said the League for Peace was quixotic, Utopian, 
impossible to be obtained. Others thought the address marked 
an epoch in our history, was the greatest state paper since the 
famous message of Monroe ; would have more influence on the 
course of world democracy than any speech ever made in Con- 
gress. Still others declared that it was ill-timed; that it was 
a fine literary effort ; that it would appeal to the American 
people ; that it would alienate the Entente Powers ; that it was 
startling in its proposals and dictatorial in its suggestions. 
We had no right to say to Germany, You must give up Poland ; 
nor to Turkey who should go through the Dardanelles. How 
would the words "a free, independent and autonomous Poland" 
be received by Russia and Germany 'i How would the words 
"freedom of worship" be received by Russia and Turkey ? 
Was the reference to a direct outlet to the highway of the sea an 
approval of Russia's ambition to obtain Constantinople? 
"Peace without victory" was likely to go down in history 
coupled with "Too proud to fight." But how would the Allies 
receive it after having just d(>clared they were "determined, 
individiuilly and collectively, to act with all their powers and 
consent to all sacrifices to bring to a victorious close a conflict 
upon which they are convinced not only their own safety and 
prosperity depends, but also the future of civilization." 

By the press of the country the address was received in 
much the same spirit. One journal thought it the greatest 
utterance yet made by the President. As an American he 
spoke American sentiments, and American principles, and 
served notice to all the world that in the peace which will end 
the war our views must be consulted. Said another, the Presi- 
dent is sworn to execute the laws; he is not sworn to execute 



THE PEACE NOTES 311 

faithfully the office of President of humanity. Nothing in his 
official duties requires him to demand a free and united Poland, 
nor lay down the principles in accordance with which Switzer- 
land shall have free access to the sea. If peace without vic- 
tory means anything, said a third, it means a peace bearing 
the hallmark "Made in Prussia." 

According to others it was a masterly address, a shining 
ideal seemingly unattainable, while passion ruled the world, 
but expressing the hopes of nations, great and small. A Mon- 
roe doctrine embracing the earth, a league of peace including 
every nation, was no idle dream. The Illinois Staats-Z eitung 
declared the President had "lost all moral authority to make 
demands on the nations at war from the standpoint of morality, 
because of his unneutral policy and his direct protection to 
munition and blood usury." The I*Tew York German Herold 
remarked that "Mr. Wilson's Anglophile leanings are so well 
known that any alliance proposition he advances should be well 
subjected to close scrutiny." 

By the London journals the speech was published under 
such headlines as: "Wilson's Speech. Hostile United States 
Attitude" ; "Wilson's Astonishing speech" ; "Wilson's Speech, 
^'either Side Must Win, Victory Kuled Out" ; "Peace Without 
Victory" ; "Wilson's Surprising Declaration for Peace With- 
out Victory Pleases Germans." The Daily Mail thought the 
address "an abstract pontifical statement of a future interna- 
tional morality" ; searched in vain "for any expression of sym- 
pathy with those who are shedding their blood for freedom" ; 
wondered "whether he spoke as the head of an American Uni- 
versity or as the Chief Magistrate of a flesh and blood Repub- 
lic" ; and could only envy him his remoteness from the reality 
of war when he spoke of peace without victory. Germany had 
declared treaties scraps of paper. It would be interesting to 
learn from the President how she is to be induced to keep 
any treaties of peace if she is not defeated. 

The Globe, after reminding the President that he made no 
protest when Belgium was invaded, and merely wrote a note 
when the Lusitania was sunk, asked him what he had done for 
justice and humanity that he should now presume "to school 
us" in the mighty conflict from which he had most carefully 



312 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

kept aloof. The men who tore up the scrap of paper laughed 
at his notes, and sank more ships, respected force and nothing 
else. Peace had no attraction for the Pall Mall Gazette if it 
left the perjured enemy fleets and armies. Victory was essen- 
tial for safety. Lord Northclilfe said Englishmen were puz- 
zled to know why the President did not begin by pacifying 
little Mexico. The President's misunderstanding of the situa- 
tion was due to German propaganda and geographical distance. 
Baron Sydenham believed the President saw, as in a vision, "a 
new world in which there shall be no preparation for war, but 
a solid union of all peoples acting in the common interest." 
Unless Germany was defeated not one of his demands could 
be fulfilled, and his roseate vision would fade into oblivion. 
"Reparation and restitution to Prance, Russia, Belgium, 
Serbia, were not possible until Germany acknowledged defeat." 

Hall Caine told the readers of the Philadelphia Ledger 
that the first expression of opinion in France and Britain 
had been "that of scarcely disguised disdain." But the Presi- 
dent need not be troubled on that account. "From the days 
of Joseph downward ridicule had been the first heritage of all 
exalted dreamers. Let President Wilson take heart from the 
first reception of his remarkable speech." The "best opinion 
here is one of deep feeling and profound admiration." He for 
one had found it profoundly moving. Two facts were of high 
significance: that the President based his plan of future wel- 
fare on the supremacy of moral law ; that he claimed to speak 
for the first time for the voiceless masses. "To all persons with 
the historic sense there is something inexpressibly pitiful in 
the spectacle of the silent procession of the simple people in 
all ages who have no part in making wars and yet suffer most 
from them." Could the present war, with a full knowledge 
of the merits of the quarrel, be referred to the twenty voice- 
less millions actually engaged in it, the battlefields would prob- 
ably be deserted within a week. 

John Dillon, the Irish leader, declared the speech was 
"unquestionably the most remarkable and momentous utter- 
ance by the ruler of a great power for more than a hundred 
years." The President did speak for liberals and friends of 
humanity everywhere. No peace could last or ought to last 



THE PEACE NOTES 31S 

that did not recognize the principle that governments derive 
their just powers from the consent of the governed. "Coming 
at such a crisis from the President of the United States, these 
words will strike deep into the hearts of all lovers of liberty 
throughout the world." 

"We flatly refuse," said a German newspaper published in 
Cologne, "to accept the President's watchword, 'Peace with- 
out Victory,' or his intolerable pretensions for a united, inde- 
pendent, autonomous Poland." "Peace without victory" 
means, said another journal, "that the great gains made by 
the Central Powers would be taken away. It means that 
Poland, liberated by German blood, would be able to pursue 
a policy hostile to Germany." 

"Peace without victory," said the Tages Zeitung, meant the 
ruin of the German Empire. Neutralization of the Darda- 
nelles meant the ruin of the Turkish Empire and the eastern 
policy of Germany. The speech, said another, is a theoretical 
utterance, a political and academic utterance. Germans must 
decline to recognize him as a framer of the European map, 
nor can they accept his prescription that they must end the war 
without victory. They were ready to make peace with the 
Allies and with them alone, because they recognized the Monroe 
Doctrine for Americans and claimed a like doctrine for Eu- 
rope, One journal was .surprised that such dreamy philo- 
sophical ideas should be held by the President of practical 
America. Others were sarcastic and told him, nolitely, to 
mind his own business, asked if they were to understand, if 
the peace when made did not suit him, he would refuse "to 
play in our yard," and told him they would discuss his ideals 
after they had thrashed the enemy. 

A French journal called the President's idea an Utopia and 
would .support it if he could find human beings fit to people 
his land of promise. Generally in France the speech was 
received as inspired by good will, and a desire to lead to bet- 
ter conditions in Europe. A Swiss journal thought the spirit 
of the speech suggested the prophecies of Isaiah. In the 
Canadian Senate a resolution was introduced that "in the 
opinon of the Senate of Canada only representatives of na- 



314 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

tions which have taken part or have been engaged in the present 
war should participate in the negotiations for peace." 

In our own Senate a resohition was offered that Monday, 
January 29, should be set apart for a full and free discussion 
of the speech. An attempt made by the Democratic leaders 
to smother the resolution in committee was met by the deter- 
mination of the Republicans to have a full discussion of the 
President's proposal that the United States enter a league for 
the enforcement of peace, and of what they considered the 
abandonment of the Monroe Doctrine and the time-honored 
policy of no entangling alliances. The resolution went on the 
calendar, and on January 30 was laid on the table. 



CHAPTER XII 

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 

And now all this discussion of peace, and the terms of 
peace, and ways to enforce peace came to a sudden end when, 
on January 31, 1917, the German Ambassador presented a 
note announcing the immediate resumption of ruthless sub- 
marine warfare. 

The Imperial Government, the Ambassador said, had care- 
fully considered the message of the President to the Senate 
on January 22, and was gratified to know that "the main tend- 
encies of this important statement corresponded largely to the 
desires and principles professed by Germany. These princi- 
ples especially included self-government and equality of rights 
of all nations. 

"Germany would be sincerely glad if, in recognition of this 
principle, countries like ilreland and India, which do not enjoy 
the benefits of political independence, should now obtain their 
freedom. The German people also repudiate all alliances which 
serve to force the countries into a competition for might and 
to involve them in a net of selfish intrigue." 

Freedom of the seas, the Ambassador continued, had always 
been one of the leading principles of Germany's political pro- 
gram. But the attitude of her enemies, entirely opposed to 
peace, miade it impossible to realize these lofty ideals. As 
to Belgium, Germany had never intended to annex her. The 
peace to be signed with her was to provide for such conditions 
as should prevent her ever again being used for hostile pur- 
poses against Germany. 

The attempts of the four Central Powers to bring about 
peace had failed because of the lust of conquest of their ene- 
mies. Their real aims in the war were the dismemberment and 
dishonor of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. 
"They desire a fight to the bitter end." 

315 



316 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

"A new situation has thus heen created which forces Ger- 
many to new decisions." During two and a half years the 
Entente Powers, led by England, had sought to force Germany 
into submission by starvation, and insisted on continuing this 
war of starvation. Thus forced to fight for existence the Impe- 
rial Government could not neglect "the full employment of 
all the weapons which are at its disposal." 

Two memoranda accompanied the note. In one the United 
States was informed what weapon was to be used. 

Germany has so far not made unrestricted use of the weapon 
which she possesses in her submarines. Since the Entente Powers, 
however, have made it impossible to come to an understanding based 
on equality of rights of all nations, as proposed by the Central 
Powers, and have instead declared only such a peace to be possible 
as shall be dictated by the Entente Powers, and shall result in the 
destruction and humiliation of the Central Powers, Germany is 
unable further to forego the full use of her submarines. 

The United States it was expected would understand the 
situation thus forced on Germany, and "that the now openly 
disclosed intention of the Entente Allies gives back to Ger- 
many the freedom of action which she reserved in her note 
addressed to the Government ef the United States on May 
4, 1916." 

Under these circumstances Germany will meet the illegal meas- 
ures of her enemies by forcibly preventing, after February 1, 1917, in 
a zone around Great Britain, France, Italy and the eastern Medi- 
terranean, all navigation, that of neutrals inchided, from and to 
England, from and to France, etc. All ships met within that zone will 
be sunk. 

Another memorandum defined the boundaries of the barred 
zones, and the open routes through them, and stated the rules 
for the guidance of American shipping: 

"Sailing of regular American passenger steamships may continue 
undisturbed after February 1, 1917, if — 

"(a) Tbe port of destination is Falmouth. 

"(b) Sailing to, or coming from that port course is taken via the 
Scilly Islands and a point 50 degrees north, 20 degrees west. 

"(c) The steamships are marked in the following way, which 
must not be allowed to other vessels in American ports. On ship's 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 



317 



hull and superstructure three vertical stripes, one meter wide each, 
to be painted alternately white and red. Each mast should show a 
large flag checkered white and red and the stern the American 
national flag. Care should be taken that, during dark, national flag 
and painted marks are easily recognizable from a distance, and that 
the boats are well lighted throughout. 

"(d) One steamship a week sails in each direction, with arrival 
at Falmouth on Sunday and departure from Falmouth on Wednesday. 

(e) The LTnited States Government guarantees that no contra- 
band (according to German contraband list) is carried by those steam- 
ships." 




German boundaries of the barred zones. 



The line marking out the barred zone around the British 
Islands started at the moiith of the river Scheldt, ran north- 



818 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

ward twenty miles off the Dutch coast to the Terschelling Light- ^ 
ship, and then north to the TJdsir Lightship twenty miles off 
the coast of Xorway. Thence it curved northward, and west- 
ward, dipping under the Faroe Islands, and keeping to the 
west of the British Isles, swept southward and eastward to a 
point twenty miles from Cape Finisterre and followed the 
north coast of Spain, twenty miles from shore, to the French 
boundary. !Not a port on the western and northern coast of 
France from the Spanish boundai'v to Belgium, not a port in 
Belgium nor in the British Isles was open to our vessels save 
Falmouth, to which passenger ships might proceed through a 
lane twenty miles wide along the fiftieth degree of north lati- 
tude. 

In the Mediterranean the line was drawn southward from 
Point de I'Espiquette to the intersection of longitude 6° east 
with latitude 38° 20' north. Point de I'Espiquette is some 
twenty-two miles east of Cette and some sixty west of Mar- 
seilles. From this point the south coast of France was open 
along the Gulf of Lyons to the Spanish border, but on this 
coast there is no port of importance save Cette. To the west- 
ward of the Point de I'Espiquette line the entire Mediterranean 
Sea was blockaded save for a safety lane twenty miles wide 
which wound through the zone to Greece. The north coast of 
Africa was barred eastward from Cape Kalos. 

Our country had now received its orders. Had the German 
armies been in possession of every foot of our soil from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific these orders could not have been more 
tyrannical. 'No "Avis," no "Proclamation/' no "Ordre" signed 
by von Bissing, or von der Goltz, or von Biilow and pasted on 
the walls of Brussels, or Liege, was written more in the spirit 
of the conqueror. Once each week one passenger steamship, 
striped like a barber's pole, and flying at each masthead a flag 
resembling the kitchen tablecloths of bygone days, might leave 
one port of the United States, and making its way along a pre- 
scribed course, enter a specified port in England on a Sabbath 
day, or be sunk without warning. The gravity of the situation 
alone prevented such a spectacle from being laughable. 

That the Imperial Government supposed we would submit 
is impossible to believe. The President in his Sussex note had 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 319 

said: "Unless the Imperial Government should now immedi- 
ately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods 
of submarine warfare against passenger and freight carrying 
vessels, the Government of the United States can have no choice 
but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Empire 
altogether." 

That diplomatic relations would now be severed was fully 
expected. Count von Bernstorff, it was said, must be handed 
his passports. The President has no other choice. He must 
do this or swallow his own words. All differences that may 
have existed now vanish. The American people stand behind 
him as one man. With the Government showing a resolute 
front and the people united behind it, we have little to fear. 
The German note shatters the last hope that the nation that 
considers treaties scraps of paper and violated Belgium will 
stand by her half promises to us. We must break relations 
with Germany or make an abject surrender. The case is sim- 
ple; the course is plain. 

Germany has deliberately defied the ultimatum of April 19. 
There can be but one answer, and that answer should be made 
at once. It is no time to parley. The challenge should be 
accepted within twenty-four hours and the war thus begun 
should not end till the imperial despotism of Germany is com- 
pletely and forever crushed. 

The German language newspapers made such defense and 
gave such advice as they could. Said the Cincinnati Volkshlatt, 
"The only way to conquer England is by a submarine war, and 
this war being hampered by restrictions imposed by the Presi- 
dent, Germany has concluded to throw off these restrictions. 
Germany's pledges were given with respect to merchant ships. 
They can, therefore, no longer apply, as the Allies have con- 
verted their merchant ships into men-of-war by supplying them 
with heavy guns and offering rewards to captains of liners for 
ramming German submarines. The proper policy of the Presi- 
dent is to warn American citizens not to travel on ships of the 
Allies." 

"Germany," said another, "has a right to wage an unre- 
stricted undersea warfare, the right of self-defense. It is her 
duty to leave no means untried to end this war, and the sub- 



320 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

marines are the weapons for this purpose. England is the only 
obstacle to peace," The duty Germany owed neutrals "is ful- 
filled by warning them off ships of belligerents, and her duty 
to the United States, in particular, by giving directions how 
American passenger ships must proceed to reach their destina- 
tion without danger." 

When the note was made public stocks fell, the rate of 
marine insurance rose, sailings of neutral vessels were canceled 
or suspended, the port of l^ew York was temporarily closed ; a 
searching examination was made of seventeen German vessels, 
which had been lying at their piers in New York and Hoboken 
since the opening of the war, lest they should attempt to make a 
dash to sea, or block a channel ; officers and men on the two Ger- 
man raiders Prinze Eitel Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm, 
interned at the navy yard at League |Island, Philadelphia, 
were denied shore leave ; torpedo boat destroyers at the New 
York navy yard were put in readiness for sea, and the crew of 
the German freighter LiehenfcJs, long anchored in Charleston 
harbor, opened the sea cocks and sank her in forty feet of water. 

What should be our conduct towards Germany caused much 
diversity of opinion. There were those who thought that dip- 
lomatic relations should not be severed until Germany committed 
some overt act or sank one of our merchantmen, and that the 
retention of Ambassador von Bernstorff in Washington would do 
more good than his dismissal. There were those who held that 
the German note was no more than a fair warning; that Ger- 
many had been forced to take the step ; that it was inevitable 
after France and Great Britain armed their merchantmen to 
sink submarines that Germany should retaliate to protect her- 
self, and that this retaliation was no more an attack on our 
rights than the blacklisting of our merchants by Great Britain 
or the stopping of our vessels on their way to neutral ports. 
There were those who thought the issue should be left with the 
President, that nothing should be said or done to embarrass 
him ; that if peace could be maintained he would find a way to 
do it, and that he should be assured that, come what might, the 
nation stood loyally behind him ; and there were those who held 
that war was inevitable. We have, they said, submitted to out- 
rage long enough. Peace will be purchased at too high a price 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 321 

if we submit to the insulting instructions of the Kaiser as to 
how our commercial affairs shall be conducted. The note is a 
shameful insult to the American people. 'No American in his 
senses would, for a moment, consider acquiescence in Germany's 
orders. They amount almost to a declaration of war. There 
must be no more killing of Americans at sea, and if insistence 
on this means a break with the Central Powers then let the 
break come. 

At a peace meeting held at Madison Square Garden, New 
York, by the American N'eutral Conference Committee, Mr. 
William J. Bryan said to those assembled: 

When I hear people say that there is danger, that, however much 
we desire peace, we are yet likely to be forced into war, I find solace, 
comfort and assurance in his message. If we can ask people to 
forget the hatreds engendered in them against other nations who 
have sought to do them harm; if we can ask people who are strug- 
gling for their existence in a death grapple which has already taken 
the lives of 6,000,000 of them ; if we can ask them to stop in their 
extreme, who shall say that this nation shall rush into war? 

What a spectacle we should present to the world, asking them to 
be patient and forbearing, while the heart's blood of millions is being 
shed, and then not be able to be patient and forbearing ourselves. 

It would be bad enough for us to go to war with a nation which 
wished to harm us, but God forbid that we should ever compel any 
nation to go to war with us that is not an enemy and does not want 
war with us. 

I believe that it would be a crime for us to go into this war, would 
be a crime against this nation and against the world. I have faith 
not only in the President's desire to keep us out of war, but in his 
ability to do so. 

The Philadelphia Branch of the American Union against 
Militarism sent a message to the President urging him to call 
on the belligerents to meet, as the Central Powers had offered to 
do, and state their peace terms as the Allies had done; and to 
make a final and personal offer of mediation to the Sovereigns 
and Executive heads of the Powers at War. 

In Germany the reports of the war feeling in our country, 
awakened by the announcement of unrestricted submarine war- 
fare, served but to harden the resolve not to abandon it. ''We 
know that America will not remain silent under our submarine 
warfare," said the Bavarian Premier, ''but the time for consid- 



322 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

ering the opinions of other people has gone. It is the only way 
to end the war. Nothing can stop ns whatever the consequences." 
"We await the American attitude with a good conscience," said 
the Vorwdrts. ''If the reply is different from what we expect, 
though we regret it, we cannot be moved by it. We know not 
how neutrals, especially America, may take it, but be their posi- 
tion what it may, we cannot be shaken in our determination aft- 
er to-day's declaration of war zone and the note to America," 
said Taegliclie Rundscliau. It cannot be imagined, the Frank- 
furter Zeitung said, "that there can be any new yielding to 
American protests. The Jniperial authorities are firmly con- 
vinced that Germany will hold her own against an onset by the 
whole world. Whatever America may do the German people 
face the future without fear." 

The decision was quickly made and on the afternoon of Feb- 
ruary third, the President announced to Congress that diplo- 
matic relations wuth Germany were severed. 

The scene was impressive. Two o'clock was the hour fixed 
for the arrival of the President. As it drew near the members 
of the House after a half hour's recess were again in their seats, 
some with their little sons on their knees; the diplomatic gal- 
lery was filled and the members' and the public galleries were 
crowded to the doors. A few minutes before two o'clock the 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, accompanied by all the 
Associate Justices, entered and took seats on the left of the 
Speaker. The Cabinet and officers of the Department of State 
followed almost immediately, and as soon as they were seated 
behind the Justices of the Supreme Court, the Senators, two 
by two, filed down the center aisle to the benclies reserved for 
them. A committee from the Senate was then appointed to 
escort the President, who, welcomed by hearty applause, entered 
the Chamber just on the hour, and shook hands with the Speaker 
and the Vice-President. "Gentlemen of the Sixty-fourth Con- 
gress," said the Speaker, "J present the President of the United 
States" ; whereupon Mr. Wilson stepped to the desk in front of 
the Speaker, and said : 

The Imperial German Government, on the thirty-first day of 
January, announced to this Government and to the Governments of 
the other neutral nations that on and after the first day of February, 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 323 

the present month, it would adopt a policy with regard to the use 
of submarines against all shipping seeking to pass through certain 
designated areas of the high seas, to which it is clearly my duty to 
call your attention. 

Let me remind the Congress that on the 18th of April last, in view 
of the sinking on the 24th of March of the cross-channel passenger 
steamer Sussex by a German submarine, without summons or warn- 
ing, and the consequent loss of the lives of several citizens of the 
United States who were passengers aboard her, this Government 
addressed a note to the Imperial German Government in which it 
made the following declaration: 

After quoting the paragraph in the note of April 18, 1916, 
in which Germany was warned that unless she immediately 
abandoned her methods of submarine warfare against passenger 
and freight-carrying vessels, the Government of the United 
States had no choice but the severance of diplomatic relations 
altogether; after citing the pledge of the German Government 
embodied in its answer of May that merchant vessels "shall not 
be sunk without warning and without saving human lives, un- 
less these ships attempt to escape or offer resistance," and aft- 
er quoting from his reply to this in the note of May 8, the 
President continued: 

I think you will agree with me that, in view of this declaration, 
which suddenly and without prior intimation of any kind, deliberately 
withdraws the solemn assurance given in the Imperial Government's 
note of the 4th of May, 1916, this Government has no alternative con- 
sistent with the dignity and honor of the United States but to take 
the course which, in its note of the 18th of April, 1916, it announced 
that it would take in the event that the German Government did not 
declare and effect an abandonment of the methods of submarine war- 
fare which it was then employing and to which it now purposes to 
again resort. 

I have, therefore, directed the Secretary of State to announce 
to his Excellency the German Ambassador that all diplomatic rela- 
tions between the United States and the German Empire are severed, 
and that the American Ambassador at Berlin will immediately be 
withdrawn ; and, in accordance with this decision, to hand to his 
Excellency his passports. 

The President could not bring himself to believe that the 
German authorities would "pay no regard to the ancient friend- 
ship between their people and our own or to the solemn obli- 
gations which have been exchanged between them and destroy 



324, THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

American ships and take the lives of American citizens in the 
willful prosecution of the ruthless naval program they have an- 
nounced their intention to adopt." 

Only actual overt acts on their part can make me believe it even 
now. 

If this inveterate confidence on my part in the sobriety and pru- 
dent foresight of their purpose should uidiappily prove unfounded, 
if American ships and American lives should, in fact, be sacrificed 
by their naval commanders in heedless contravention of the just and 
reasonable understandings of international law and the obvious dic- 
tates of Immanity, I shall take the liberty of coming again before 
the Congress to ask that authority bo given me to use any means 
that may be necessary for the protection of our seamen and our peo- 
ple in the prosecution of their peaceful and legitinuite errands on 
the high seas. 

At two o'clock on February 3, just as the President be- 
gan his address, the German Ambassador received from the 
Secretary of State a note of dismissal and his passports. The 
affairs of the German Embassy were then taken over by the 
Swiss Minister and preparations were made for the departure 
of Count von Bernstorff. France and Great Britain each gave 
a safe conduct; passage was secured, with the consent of the 
Danish Government, on the Frederick VIII.; the German con- 
suls scattered over the United States, and their families, were 
summoned to Washington; and on February 14 the Ambassa- 
dor and his party, one hundred and forty nine persons in all, 
sailed from the port of New York. Our diplomatic relations 
with Germany were taken in charge by Spain. 

As soon as the break occurred neutral Governments were 
officially notified and our representatives instructed to say that 
because of the announced intention of the German Govern- 
ment to renew unrestricted submarine v^^arfare the United 
States had no choice but to follow the course laid down in the 
Sussex note of April 18, 1016; that the American Ambassador 
had been recalled from Berlin and passports delivered to the 
German Ambassador at Washington, and that the President be- 
lieved it would make for the peace of the world if other neu- 
tral Powers would take like action. Not one did ; but Switzer- 
land, Holland and Spain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 325 

Brazil, Chili, Peru, all the South American Republics, Cuba 
and China protested against the ruthless submarine warfare 
and the barred zone. 

From Mr. Bryan came an appeal to the people not to enter 
the war. The President, Mr. Bryan said, had asked the bellig- 
erents to forget the bitterness caused "by the killing of more 
than 6,000,000 human beings and the expenditure of more than 
$50,000,000,000 in money and come together in honorable 
peace. If we can expect such an exhibition of virtue by them 
are we not in duty bound to measure up to the standard which 
we have set for them ?" There were several ways out of our 
difficulties. We might put off, until after the war, the settle- 
ment of such disputes as could not now be amicably arranged. 
We might keep American citizens off the ships of belligerents. 
We might refuse clearances to any vessel which carried passen- 
gers and articles contraband of war, whether it sailed under the 
flag of the United States or that of a neutral Power. We might 
withdraw protection from American citizens who were willing to 
risk the peace of the country by traveling as seamen on neutral 
or American ships carrying contraband. We might keep all 
American ships out of the danger zone, just as the Mayor of a 
city keeps citizens at home when a mob is in possession of the 
streets. Congress could submit the question of war to popular 
vote. It was most important that the officials at Washington 
should know "that the people at home protest against entering 
this war on either side, with its frightful expenditure of blood 
and treasure ; that they arc not willing to send American 
soldiers across the Atlantic to march under the banners of any 
European monarch, or to die on European soil in settlement of 
European quarrels." 

The people therefore were urged to "Wire immediately to 
the President, your Senators, your Congressmen. A few cents 
now may save many dollars in taxation and possibly a son." 

The German language press was luke-warm. The New 
York Staats-Z eitung could not believe "that commanders of 
German boats could willingly sink American ships; but in a 
warfare, such as from now on will be waged in European waters, 
such incidents may occur. Mistakes may be made or intrig-ues 
carried out by Germany's enemies, which after the breaking of 



326 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

diplomatic relations cannot be discussed or cleared up any more. 
Therefore war may very suddenly engulf our country. It is 
almost needless to mention what great anxiety is filling the 
hearts of those who, being subjects of Germany, are forced by 
circumstances to be in our midst, and the American citizens of 
German descent who have endeavored to foster the very best 
of relations between the country of their birth and their new 
Fatherland." 

The Chicago Staats-Zeitung believed that an "overwhelm- 
ing majority of our people stand behind the President in his 
efforts to keep this country at peace with all the world. But it 
is doubtful that a majority will endorse giving the German 
Ambassador his passports at the present time." Were Ameri- 
cans to enter the war, "the hearts of millions would be saddened 
by the knowledge that they must wage war against their kin. 
The war of races would break out in the midst of us, passion 
would be aroused, hatred engendered, and internecine warfare 
result unless the causes that led to our entering the European 
war were shocking and all peaceful procedure futile." 

The Philadelphia Morning Gazette declared "Our duty as 
American citizens makes it absolutely necessary for us to bo 
loyal to the country that we swore allegiance to — the United 
States of America." 

Said the Louisville Anzeiger, "Every German- American who 
has become a citizen of this country knows which flag he must 
follow in this hour. The loyalty of German-Americans to- 
wards the country of their adoption has been proved often 
enough." 

The editors of nearly every foreign language newspaper in 
Philadelphia met, adopted resolutions and sent them to the 
President. They approved his stand, pledged their devotion to 
country and flag. Five hundred representatives of German, 
Austrian, and Hungarian societies in New York met and 
pledged unqualified loyalty to the United States even in the 
event of war, but begged the President "to make every effort to 
preserve peace." 

Severance of diplomatic relations with Germany had no ef- 
fect on her avowed policy of ruthless submarine warfare, nor 
did any reasonable person suppose it would. Sure that war 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 327 

would come, our couiitr;>aneu awaited the perpetration of the 
overt act which would bring the President before Congress with 
a request for a declaration of war. For a moment it seemed 
that the overt act had been committed for on February third, 
the American ship Housatonic was sunk off the Scilly Islands by 
a German submarine. When, however, the facts were known it 
appeared that the ship was stopped and searched, the crew given 
plenty of time to take to the boats which the submarine towed to 
a point off the coast of England, and that she fired a gun to 
notify a British patrol boat which landed all hands at Pen- 
zance. 

What might be the action of Germans living in our country, 
of German-Americans and German sympathizers was a matter 
of no little concern and preparations were promptly made for 
home defense. The I^ational Militia was prepared for mobi- 
lization at a moment's notice, marines were sent to guard im- 
portant bridges, reservoirs, water works; civilian guards were 
placed on railroad bridges and at ship yards, and those at steel 
plants and munition plants were greatly strengthened; police 
protection was given to the Mint at Philadelphia, the Custom 
Houses and Federal buildings, arsenals, armories, navy yards ; 
the White House, the State, War, Navy and Treasury Build- 
ings were closed to the public and the Kronprinzessin Cecilie, 
at Boston, was taken possession of, in civil proceedings, by the 
United States Marshal. He reported that within three days 
the machinery had been tampered with. Under orders from 
Washington the crew were held at the immigration station as 
aliens, to await the decision of the Department of Labor as to 
their status. Officers and crews of some twenty-five German 
steamships at New York were ordered to remain on board their 
ships. From Manila came the report that the machinery of 
twenty-three German ships in Philippine ports had been dam- 
aged. The crew of an interned German gun boat at Honolulu, 
it was reported, had set fire to the vessel. 

Orders went out from the American Red Cross headquarters 
at Washington to all its Chapters the country over, to make ready 
for emergencies. From the Carnegie Steel Company, the Beth- 
lehem Steel Company, the Remington Arms Company, the 
Ford Motor Company came assurances that these great plants 



328 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

were ready at a moment's notice to suspend work and place their 
equipment at the service of the Government. Private yacht 
owners made tenders of their craft, the American Federation 
of Labor agreed to a suspension of the law restricting the hours 
of labor on Government work, and the President by proclama- 
tion forbade the sale, lease or charter, to any person not a citi- 
zen of the United States, or transfer to a foreign flag, of any 
vessel registered or enrolled and licensed under the laws of the 
United States, as he was empowered to do by the Act approved 
September 7, 1916. The Executive Council of the N^ational 
Suffrage League was called to consider how women could help 
in case of war, and to make a definite proposal to the Govern- 
ment. 

Aroused by these warlike preparations Pacifists, Socialists, 
Anti-War Leaguers, persons for any reason opposed to the en- 
trance of our country into the war made haste to protest. Dr. 
C. J. Hexamer, President of the German-American Alliance, 
sent messages to friends throughout the country urging them 
to arrange peace meetings and send to Congress resolutions 
praying that it submit the question of war to popular vote. In 
case of sudden attack by another country, calling for instant 
action, a referendum was, of course, he said, impossible. But 
for a country deliberately to go to war without allowing the peo- 
ple to express their approval was wrong, utterly wrong. 

Telegrams by the hundred, indorsing or condemning the 
break with Germany, meantime came to the Senators. One 
from the Detroit Socialists protested against war. Labor and 
peace organizations in Wisconsin sent appeals urging peace. 
The Legislature of ISTevada indorsed the course taken by the 
President. So did the United States Senate by adopting a reso- 
lution introduced by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, setting forth that, whereas, the President, for the 
reasons given in his address to the Congress in joint session, 
had severed diplomatic relations with Germany, had recalled 
the American Ambassador at Berlin, sent passports to the Ger- 
man Ambassador at Washington, expressed his desire to avoid 
a conflict with Germany, and declared that should occasion 
arise for further action he would submit the matter to Con- 
gress and ask authoi-ity to use sndi measures as might be nee- 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 329 

essary for the protection of American seamen and people pur- 
suing their peaceful and lawful business on the high seas, there- 
fore, the Senate approved the action taken by the President as 
set forth in his address. 

To quiet the anxiety felt by German subjects residing in 
our country lest their bank deposits and other property should 
be seized by the Government in the event of war, the President 
instructed the Secretary of State to say that such fears were un- 
founded. Under no circumstances would the Government take 
advantage of a state of war to seize property to which inter- 
national law and the law of the land gave it no just claim or 
title. All rights of property both of American citizens and of 
subjects of foreign states would be respected. 

Germany meantime, true to her policy as announced, had 
begun her ruthless submarine warfare and day after day the 
list of vessels sunk grew longer and longer until, on February 
7, twenty-two had been torpedoed without warning. Among 
those destroyed were two which caused some excitement m our 
country for it seemed quite likely their sinking might be the 
overt act that would bring on war. 

February fifth the British steamship Eavestone was sunk by 
gun fire from a German submarine, and the crew while in life 
boats was fired on and the Captain and three seamen killed. 
One of the seamen, Richard Wallace, was a negro from Balti- 
more. This, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, was not 
an overt act. The Eavestone was a collier, an auxiliary to the 
British fleet ; the presence of Wallace aboard made him a mem- 
ber of the armed forces of Great Britain, and the ship, being a 
provisional collier, had the status of a warship subject to attack 
without warning. Nothing in international law, however, justi- 
fied firing on a lifeboat ; nevertheless, there was no occasion for 
anything more at present than a protest and settlement later. 

The second case was that of th6 Anchor liner California, 
torpedoed without warning off the coast of |Ireland. On board 
were two hundred and twenty-seven passengers. One Ajneri- 
can, a member of the crew, was reported saved. Whether saved 
or lost the gravity of the act was not altered, for the President 
for two years past in his notes to Germany had insisted that the 
lives of Americans on any peaceful merchant ship should not be 



330 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

put in jeopardy by attacks without warning. When the first 
week of submarine frightfnlncss closed sixty-nine ships had 
been sunk. 

In Great Britain our break with Germany gave intense sat- 
isfaction not merely because it seemed certain that the United 
States would soon be in the war, but because after enduring all 
things with amazing patience, after seeking by every honorable 
means to avoid entrance into the conflict, the great Republic 
of the West had been forced to recognize the justice of the 
cause of the Allies in their struggle with the enemy of the 
human race. A moral victory had been won and was duly noted 
when Parliament reconvened on rebruary seventh. 

Speaking in the Commons, Mr. Astpiith said, ''Tt is not for 
us to forecast the bearing of this memoi'ablo event on the future 
of the war. Still less is it fitting for us to tender advice or sug- 
gestion to a Government which is well able to take care of itself. 
W^e shall hail with acclamation, with a strain of family pride, 
the stern and resolute determination of the other great English- 
speaking Power to frustrate the enormity of those who have 
abundantly earned for themselves the title of enemies of the hu- 
man race." 

"The fact that the United States Government has broken 
with Germany" said Mr. Andrew Bonar Law, "is, in itself, the 
best testimony of the justice of our cause and the illegality of 
the methods whereby our enemies are trying to obtain victory." 

To the request of the President that neutral Powers follow 
the example of the United States and sever diplomatic relations 
with Germany, Holland declined. The presence of a German 
army on her frontier made it impossible. Sweden replied that 
her policy during the war had been one of strict neutrality ; that 
she had done everything in her power faithfully to perform the 
duties imposed by such policy; but the methods adopted by the 
United States for the realization of peace were contrary to the 
principles which, up to the present time, had guided her. 

Germany, though fully determined not to depart from her 
policy of destroying neutral ships found within the danger zones, 
now suggested that the United States discuss the situation with 
her. The Swiss Government was requested to instruct her Min- 
ister at Washington accordingly and on the afternoon of Satur- 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 331 

lay, February 10, he called at the Department of State and made 
a verbal proposition. No reply on behalf of the United States 
was made at that time, but the Minister was soon informed that 
the President would prefer to have the suggestion put in writ- 
ing. On Sunday night accordingly a memorandum was de- 
livered to the Secretary of State. 

"The Swiss Government," it read, "has been requested by 
the German Government to say that the latter is now, as before, 
willing to negotiate formally or informally with the United 
States, provided that the commercial blockade against England 
will not be broken thereby." 

As quickly as possible the Secretary replied that the 
Government of the United States "would gladly discuss with 
the German Government any question it might propose for dis- 
cussion were it to withdraw its proclamation of the thirty-first 
of January, in which, suddenly and without previous intima- 
tion of any kind, it canceled the assurances which it had given 
this Government on the fourth of May, last," but would not dis- 
cuss the policy of submarine warfare then waging against neu- 
trals, "unless and until the German Government renews its as- 
surances of the fourth of May and acts upon the assurance." 

The cause of this action by Germany, it was said, was a mes- 
sage, sent to the Cologne Gazette by Mr. George Barthelme, the 
American correspondent for that journal. 

Mr. George W. Kirchwey, President of the American Peace 
Society, obtained permission from Secretary Daniels to send 
the dispatch of ]\Ir. Barthelme over the wireless controlled by 
the ISTavy Department. The message as given by the newspa- 
pers was this : 

From high sources whose identity cannot be disclosed I am urged, 
almost implored, to convey to the German people, and if possible to 
Government, the idea that message (the President's) should not be 
construed as indicating any desire on the part of Government or the 
people for war with Germany. 

Attention is called to the following passage: "I refuse to believe 
it the intention of German authorities to do in fact what they warned 
us they will feel at liberty to do," and so forth: "only actual overt 
acts can make me believe it even now." 

Further attention is called to the following sentence: "If this 
inveterate confidence should unhappily prove unfounded I shall take 



332 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the liberty of coming again before Congress to ask authority to use 
any means necessary for the protection of our seamen and people." 

These passages widely construed : First, as expressive of confi- 
dence some way out might be found. Second, not containing any 
threat of war. Widely shared opinion is President could do nothing 
else but sever relations to make good former note. Now up to Ger- 
many to provide an opening. First thing necessary avoid everything 
which makes maintenance of friendly relations impossible. 

Particularly refrain from destruction of American ships not 
carrying contraband, thus inducing a delay of perhaps one month 
to make possible limit of submarine activities object of negotiation. 
Such delay offered as token of ancient friendship of two countries. 
Then consider the possibilities provided in the resolution for calling 
conference of Powers. These possibilities closed by hasty action. 

Some explanation about sailing of only four especially marked 
American ships would remove very bitter impression created by this 
wholly incomprehensible proviso, hurting the national pride as noth- 
ing else. My informants assure in most emphatic manner country is 
not for war, and will be for war only when forced into it. Only small 
circles clamoring for hostilities, but huge majority praying for peace 
with honor. 

I feel it my solenm duty to inform you about these sentiments 
and opinions entertained by men of highest standing, noblest char- 
acter, responsible position, and loftiest ideals and thoroughly good 
will. Should you deem advisable to exert influence of our great 
paper, do so to find way out of situation not yet unavoidable, preg- 
nant with gravest possibilities. I honestly believe country just 
anxiously waiting for one more good word. 

This good word the Pacifists believed was the offer of Ger- 
many to negotiate; but Mr. Barthelme was forced by the 
Government to leave the country and, provided with a safe 
passage, sailed with Ambassador von Bernstorff and his party. 

The German explanation of the proposed parley set forth 
that the Swiss Minister in a dispatch from Washington had of- 
fered to mediate with the American Government concerning the 
declaration of prohibited areas because he believed the danger 
of war between Germany and the United States might thereby 
be lessened ; that the Imperial Government replied that it was 
ready, as before, to negotiate with America provided the com- 
merce barrier against the Allies was left untouched ; that Ger- 
many, of course, could not have entered into such negotiations 
unless diplomatic relations were restored, and that the only ob- 
jects of negotiation were certain concessions regarding Ameri- 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 333 

can ships carrying passengers. Under no circumstances could 
the restriction on overseas imports by the Allies be relaxed; 
from the resolute carrying out of the U-boat war there was 
no turning back. 

Germany now added to her long list of offensive acts by 
holding the Yarrowdale prisoners. 

On the nineteenth of January Ambassador Gerard reported 
that the evening newspapers in Berlin announced that the Brit- 
ish steamship YarrowdaJe had reached Schwinemihide ; that she 
\vas a prize ; that aboard her were 469 prisoners ; that 103 were 
neutrals, and that such of them as had served on enemy ships 
for pay would be held prisoners of war. 

Late in I^ovember the German cruiser Mowe, or Seagull, 
stole out of the Kiel Canal and the N^orth Sea and began depre- 
dations in the Atlantic. The British Admiralty first heard of 
them on December second and on the eighth sent out a general 
warning; but the extent of her work was not known till Jan- 
uary 16, 1017, when the Japanese steamer Hudson Maru 
reached Pernambuco, Brazil, with 287 men taken from six ves- 
sels sunk between the Azores and Brazil. One of these, the 
Yarroivdale, was not destroyed, but taken to a German port 
with 469 prisoners from one Norwegian and seven British ships, 
and with a valuable cargo of rifle cartridges, motor lorries, 
barbed wire, steel, meat, bacon and sausages. December 31, 
she reached Schwinemiinde ; but her arrival was not announced 
till January 19, 1917. The Mowe likewise reached a German 
port bringing 573 prisoners. She had captured or destroyed at 
least twenty-six ships. Her prisoners landed in Germany and 
Brazil numbered 1389, Fifty-nine of those on the Yarrowdale 
were Americans taken from an armed British merchantman. 
These and other "subjects of neutral Powers," the official state- 
ment of the return of the Mowe, issued at Berlin, announced, 
"have been removed as prisoners of war in so far as they had 
taken pay on armed vessels." 

To the demand for the release of the Americans, on the 
ground that when they shipped on board the British merchant- 
men they did not know that Germany would treat armed mer- 
chantmen as ships of war, the German Foreign office replied, 
February 4, that they woud be»i"eleased at once. But just at 



334 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

that time diplomatic relations were severed, the men were not 
set free and on the seventeenth the Swiss Minister notified the 
Department of State that the men would be detained until the 
Imperial Government was informed concerning the treatment 
of the crews of German warships interned in American har- 
bors, and until she had definite assurances that the crews of 
German merchantmen would not be held or imprisoned. Wash- 
ington was amazed. The crews of the raiders Prinz Eitel 
Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm, and of such gunboats as were 
interned at Guam and Honolulu were, under international law, 
held as prisoners during the war. German merchantmen were 
not interned, remained in our harbors as ports of refuge, were 
at liberty to put to sea at any time, and the members of their 
crews were as free as any aliens to enter our country on comply- 
ing with the requirements of the immigration laws. Until then 
they were held aboard their ships by the immigration authori- 
ties. The United States had seized no German ships. A 
formal demand was then made through the Spanish Ambassa- 
dor, for their immediate release. He was asked to say that if 
not liberated at once, "and allowed to cross the frontier without 
further delay," the United States would be forced "to consider 
what measures it may be necessary to take in order to obtain 
satisfaction for the continued detention of these innocent Amerin 
can citizens." March 11 they finally reached Zurich. 

From the day of their arrival, January 3, to the hour of 
their release they had been subjected to cruel and brutal treat- 
ment, though during all this time Germany was professing sin- 
cere friendship for the United States. The official report sets 
forth that they were given no clothes suitable to the weather; 
that some were made to stand for hours barefoot in the snow ; 
that food was poor and insufficient. One, after the sinking of 
the Georgia, was wounded by shrapnel fired by the Germans at 
an open boat in which he and others of the crew had taken 
refuge. Another was kicked in the abdomen by a German of- 
ficer. 

At Berlin the break in diplomatic relations and the recall of 
Ambassador Gerard was followed by the placing of a police 
guard before the Embassy; but it was not needed as no un- 
friendly demonstration of any "kind was made. The Ambassa- 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 335 

dor, however, was treated much like a prisoner. His telephone 
was cut, his mail was stopped, he could not communicate with 
American consuls, and he was denied permission to cable Wash- 
ington in cipher. No passports were furnished Americans de- 
sirous of leaving Berlin, nor would the police allow them to set 
out for Denmark, Holland or Switzerland. Mr. Gerard, it was 
suggested, should use his good offices with Washington to induce 
the Government to endeavor to obtain from France and Great 
Britain safe conducts for the return of German merchantmen 
from America to German ports. When he refused it was inti- 
mated that his help might hasten the departure of Americans, to 
which he answered, it was reported, that he would sit where he 
was till Kingdom come before he would go without them. 

The restraint imposed on Ambassador Gerard was explained 
bv Dr. von Stumm, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs. We 
had, he said, no reports from the United States. We knew not 
how our Ambassador, consuls and subjects were faring. Ap- 
parently the United States had stopped telegTaphic communica- 
tion with our Ambassador as soon as the rupture occurred. 
Such treatment forced us to adopt the same measures towards 
the American Ambassador. From Renter dispatches we learn 
that German ships are confiscated and the crews hampered in 
their movements. We know not if these reports are true. We 
hope they are not, for such action would be contrary to the 
spirit and letter of our treaties with the United States, giving 
the subjects of both States nine months' immunity in event of 
war. Not until the good treatment given to Germans in this 
country was known in Berlin was it arranged that the Ambassa- 
dor, the Secretaries, attaches, members of the consular service, 
and American newspaper men should go to Switzerland by way 
of Berne. Thence Mr. Gerard traveled to Paris, Madrid and 
Barcelona, whence he sailed for Havana and home. 

The effort to persuade Ambassador Gerard to sign a protocol 
confirming and enlarging the privileges of German subjects in 
our country in case of war having failed, the document was sent 
to Washing-ton and delivered to the Secretary of State by the 
Swiss Minister on February 10, 1917. 

On the eleventh of July, 1799, a treaty of amity and com- 
merce was made with Prussia. The German Empire, as we 



336 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

know it, did not then exist. The twenty-third article of this 
treaty provided for the treatment of the subjects and citizens 
of the States in case of war between Prussia and the United 
States, and it was to this article that Germany now proposed 
to add nine "explanatory and supplementary clauses." 

Merchants of each country living in the other should be free 
to remain and carry on their business even after the time, nine 
months, specified in Article 23 ; Germans in the United States 
and Americans in Germany should be free to leave with their 
personal property, money, valuables and bank accounts ; they 
must not be sent to concentration camps, nor their property be 
subject to confiscation or liquidation under any conditions other 
than such as applied to neutral property. Patent riii'hts held 
by Germans in America or Americans in Germany must not be 
declared void, contracts between Germans and Americans made 
before or after the severance of diplomatic relations must not bo 
canceled or made void, save under provisions applicable to neu- 
trals. 

The proposition was promptly rejected, because of the "re- 
peated violations by Germany of the Treaty of 1828, and the 
articles of the Treaties of 1785 and 1799, revised by the Treaty 
of 1828;" because of the sinking of American vessels, said to 
have carried articles contraband of war, although Article 13 of 
the Treaty of 1799 provides that: "no such articles carried in 
the vessels of either party to the enemy of the other shall be 
deemed contraband so as to induce confiscation or condemnation 
or a loss of property to individuals." It was rejected because 
foreign merchant vessels carrying American citizens and prop- 
erty were sunk by German submarines without warning al- 
though by Article 15 of the Treaty of 1799 "all persons belong- 
ing to any vessel of war, public or private, who shall molest or 
insult in any manner whatever the people, vessel, or effects of 
the other party shall be responsible in their persons and prop- 
erty for damages," and although by Article 12 of the Treaty of 
1785, "the free intercourse and commerce of the subjects or 
citizens of the party remaining neutral with the belligerent 
powers shall not be interrupted." 

Heedless of these obligations Germany had established cer- 
tain barred zones, had declared that within them all vessels, neu- 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 337 

trals included, would be sunk without warning, and had within 
these zones ruthlessly sunk vessels and jeopardized or destroyed 
the lives of Americans on board. ISTay more ; since the severance 
of diplomatic relations certain American citizens had been 
prevented from removing from Germany. This was a violation 
of the treaty, was a disregard ''of the reciprocal intercourse be- 
tween the two countries, in times of peace," and must be taken 
as a sure sign of her intention to disregard "in the event of war 
the similar liberty of action provided for in Article 23 of the 
Treaty of 1799, the very article which it is now proposed to 
interpret and supplement almost wholly in the interests of the 
large number of German subjects residing in the United 
States." 

In view of the violations, by Germany, of plain terms of 
the treaties in question; in view of "the disregard of the can- 
ons of international courtesy and comity of nations in the treat- 
ment of innocent American citizens in Germany," the United 
States could not see any advantage likely to result from further 
explanations of any articles in these treaties. Indeed, the 
United States was seriously considering whether or not the 
Treaty of 1828, and the revised articles of the Treaties of 1785 
and 1799 had not been, in effect, abrogated "by the German 
Government's flagrant violation of their provisions." It would 
be unjust to expect one party to hold to its stipulations while 
the other was free to disregard them. 

An immediate result of the severance of diplomatic rela- 
tions was the ending of American relief work in Belgium. Mr. 
Warren Gregory of the American Commission for Relief in 
Belgium was notified by Baron von Der Lancken, civil governor 
of Brussels, that American citizens could no longer hold posi- 
tions under the Commission in the occupied territory in Bel- 
gium and France, but that a few, Mr. Brand Whitlock among 
them, might reside in Brussels and supervise the work. Fur- 
thermore automobiles and other means of transportation were 
to be denied them. Unable to work under these conditions, 
the German authorities were informed that the Ajnericans 
would officially withdraw. 

"Immediately after the break in relations," said the Depart- 
ment of State in its official statement, "the German authorities 



338 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

withdrew from IMr. WhitliK^v the (li|)lomatic privileges and im- 
munities which he had up to that tinu^ enjoyed. His conrier 
service to The Hagno was stopped. He was denied the privilege 
of coninnuii eating- with the Department of State in cipher, and 
later even in plain language." 

T^evertheless the (jlovernment and the Connnission had "de- 
termined to keep the good work going, until the last possible 
moment" when they heard that between the twenty-fifth of 
AFarch and the tenth of April four Belgium relief ships loaded 
with food and bound from our country to Kotterdam had been 
sunk by German submarines, "without warning and in flagrant 
violation of the sidemn engagements of the German Govern- 
ment. Protests addressed by this Government to Berlin through 
the intermediary of the Spanish Government have not been an- 
swered. 

"The German Government's disregard of its written under- 
takings causes grave concern as to the future of the relief work. 
^In any event, it is felt that the American staff of the Com- 
missicm can no longer serve with advantage in Belgium," The 
President, therefore, late in March ordered them to withdraw. 

Dutch citizens then took up the work, with Mr. Hoover di- 
recting it from Rotterdam. 

The sins of our country as viewed by the Germans after 
diplomatic relations were broken were enumerated by von Beth- 
mann-Hollweg in 9, speech in the Reichstag. For more than 
a century, said the Chancellor, friendly relations with America 
had been carefully promoted. "We honored them, as Bismarck 
once put it, as an heirloom from Frederick the Great. Both 
countries profited by it, both giving and taking." But since 
the war opened things had ('hanged on our side of the water. 
Old principles had been overthrown. "On August 27, 1913, 
during the Mexican troubles President Wilson, in a solemn 
message to Congress, declared he intended to follow the best 
usages of international law by a prohibition of the supplying of 
arms to both Mexican parties at war against each other. One 
year later, li)14, these usages apparently were no longer con- 
sidered good. Countless materials of war have been supplied 
by America to the Fntente, and, while the right of the Ameri- 
can citizen to travel without hindrance to Entente countries, 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 339 

and the right to trade without hindrance with France and Eng- 
land, even through the midst of the battlefields, even the right 
of such trade as we had to pay for with German blood, while all 
these rights were jealously guarded, the same right of American, 
citizens towards the Central Powers did not seem worthy of 
protection and as valuable." 

The Chancellor protested against the assertion that l)y the 
manner in which Germany withdrew the assurances given in 
the note of May 4, she had offended the honor and dignity of the 
United States. From the very first Germany had openly and 
expressly declared that these assurances would be withdrawn 
under certain conditions. England did not abandon "the iso- 
lation of Germany." The Allies were not made to respect 
the principles of international law, "nor made to follow the laws 
of humanity." 

Breaking off diplomatic relations and attempting to mobilize 
neutrals against Germany would n(;t make "for the protection 
of the freedom of the seas proclaimed by the United States," 
Germany "regretted the rupture with a nation which by her his- 
tory seemed to be destined surely to work with us, not against 
us, but since our honest wish for peace has met only jeering on 
the part of our enemies, there is no more going backward. 
There is only going forward possible for us." 

Professor Hans Delbrueck of the University of Berlin, at 
the request of the Associated Press, gave his views on America 
and the war. He believed, he said, that he ought to state very 
frankly how the German people feel towards America. 

They feel bitterness and believe they have been wronged. Hun- 
dreds of thousands have lost fathers, husbands, and sons through 
American ammunition. Hundreds of thousands of young men of 
Germany have been maimed for life with American ammunition. 

In all wars the makers of arms and ammunition have supplied 
the belligerent nations, but the manufacturers of arms are not the 
exponents of humanity. Never before were the industries of peace 
of a country not a belligerent in the war reorganized to kill. Your 
people forged for our enemies those tremendously effective weapons 
of death, and we protested in vain. 

Then we were to receive from you bread for our noncombatants. 
Our enemies interfered. You said their interference was illegal, 
but you did not make your protest effective. 



:mo rill iNirin sTATi'S i\ 'riiF wt^iM n w mi 

(>ur pt'oplo iiro iu*lviuK willi urowiuK I'illrrnrMs tlio nuiHon I'ltr 
(liis tlif<nimiiiatii»ii. Tlirrc may l>o iiuiuy Icclmunl iiiid \v^i\\ iiuHworM 
to tluH qutvilii'U, lull i>iir I'l'iipli' trcl lli;il. Ii.iil lluir l>rci» n will, llu-it^ 
wotiM \\n\o l>rrn a w ;i,\ Wo ha\o lu'cii lulil I mic aiul a^nm lluil 
tl>c i>niu'i|>li> of llh- lifiili'm i>r (lie seas is tlccplv roolcd in .vi>iir raiT. 
AK'nn aiul aKH'ii \vt* liav»< licartl n'pcatoil .vour I'rrsuU'iil's words, "I 
will »H>ut«Mul l\>r tlio t"nHHli»m of tlio soan, from wliatovor miartor it \h 
vu>lah'tl aiul willioiit i'i»nn>rvuuis<>." 

thiv po*>|>l»> w«'ro (old tliat tho luiiuiiilo id" llu> Iritdom of llu' 
sous hIumiKI lu> st> ooiulurt»'d dial tii>iu"onil>ataids on Hi^a and laud wimid 
ho Npansl (lio siilToriii^s nl war Tliun our |>ro|>lo |>al ioiill.v lotiUctl 
i>li. iiioiidi allor iiioiilli. while a ooiil iiiuoiui ^.|t■l■am ol Amcrifau aiiiiuu 
iiitioii (HMin-d iiilo l''\i}^'laiul and Kiissia nnoliocUod I'V our sulMuariiios. 

Now wo aro j^oin^ to liKld out lliis battlo. I'lio (ionnau poojdo 
liad w'islu^l that it inii;lil l>o riun-vlil out. as olhor wars liad I'oon 
l>t^twoiHi t>uouiv and ouoniv. 



As l'\"liru;uv closod and (ho liav drew lu-ai' whoii (ho sossioii 
MUisI «'iid (ho Sonaio j^row r*'s(i\«> o\cy (ho hh>okndo id oiw |>iu(s 
hv CuM'iiumv. Soiuothini;' must bo dono (o lui-ak i(, inui in lUilor 
to ilo so vStMuitoi- l'":ill ol" Now Moxioo in( loduood a hill to ••ivo 
autl>iM'i(\ to (ho I'losidoiU (o iiso ai'uuul \ossols to |>rotoi'( 
Aiuorioan ships; to |>ormi( tlu^ i-rows ol iiioiohantinoii (o fo 
sist st\'U'idi, stM/nro or attaok; ropol hv I'oi'i-o auv assauH, and 
snluluo, oiipturo oi- dosdov (ho al(aokin;v \ossol. Should war 
hroak Old hot'ort- (ho no\( sivssioii K^i Cotu-ross (ho TrosuhMit 
niii;lu tnilist aiul oall iuti> sorvioi- tivo huudrod thousaiul ti'oops 
oyov mul ahovt^ tlu>st> ii> tho ioi;ulai' arniv aiul tho National 
(Inard. r>u(, (wi>davs lalor, (ho I'rosidoid oui-o nioro appt^ariHl 
lud'oro tho Soual»> aiiil llous(> and askod tor iiu>ans (o luaiidain 
iirinod m'utrali(\. 

riio (uMiiian poliov ot rudih-ss sulunariuo wai' on noud'als 
had, lu' said. Ih-oii in t\>roo tu'arlv tour woi>ks. It was tv>o mow 
to dotormino Us piaotioal rosults, but tho t'ommortn^ oi' otlu'r 
noutrals was sudoriiii;' sovfi'olv thou>;li porhaps ih>t iiioro 
sovoi'olv than botoio tlu* uow poliov was (uit into i»[UMation. To 
tiptM'atioii ol" otluM' noutrals ti> sto|> tlioso doprodatious had ho«Mi 
askod, "but so tar noiu' »d' (Ihmii has (hoUi;li( it wiso to join us 
III auv v'ouunon ooui'si> id aidioii. ' Our ooiuiuoroo luul sulloiH'd, 
"rathor in M|>pri'housion than in taot, lafhor bov-auso so luaiiy 
ot" our ships aro tiinidU ki\'piii;\ (o (luMr homo por(s, (hau bo 
I'aiiso Aiuonoau shi|is ha\o boon sunk." 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 341 

Two of our ships, the Housatonic and the Lyman M. Law, 
had indeed been sunk. "The case of the ITousaionic, which was 
carrying' foodstull's (consigned to a London firm, was essentially 
like the case of the /'Vv/r^" in which Germany a(hnitted dam- 
ages, and in which, as in the case of the Ilousalonic, the lives of 
the crew "were safeguar(kMl witli reasonable care." The sink- 
ing of the Law, "which was carrying lemon box staves to Paler- 
mo," was "accom])auied by no circumstances" which might not 
have been expected from the use of submarines against mer- 
chantmen as Germany was using them. In short he could 
"only say that the overt act" he hoped "the German com- 
manders would in fact avoid has not occurred." Nevertheless 
"it would be foolish to deny that the situation is fraught with 
the grav(!st possibilities and dangers." 

"No thoughtful man can fail to see that the necessity for 
definite action may come at any time, if we are in fact, and not 
in word merely, to defend our elementary rights as a neutral 
nation. It would be most imprudent to be unprepared." 

Our duty was clear; only the manner and extent of doing 
it remained to be chosen, and since diplomacy has failed to 
safeguard our neutral rights, there might be no means left but 
armed neutrality. He was not "proposing or contemplating 
war, or any steps that need lead to it." He was merely request- 
ing that Congress would give him "the means and authority to 
safeguard in practice the right of a great people who are at 
peace," and who desired "to follow the pursuits of peace in 
quietness and good will." War could come only by the willful 
acts and aggressions of others. He believed the people would 
be willing to trust him to act with restraint, with prudence, 
and in that belief he asked for authority "to supply our mer- 
chant ships with defensive arms, should that become necessary, 
and with the means of using them, and to employ any other in- 
strumentalities or methods," necessary to protect our ships and 
people in their rightful pursuits on the sea. lie asked also for 
a sufficient credit to enable him "to provide adequate means of 
protection where they are lacking, including adequate insurance 
against the present war risks." 

The appeal, in brief, set forth that Germany had established 
a blockade of our coast by so terrorizing our merchants that 



Si2 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WOUID WAU 

o\ir ships AviMV not sent to sea; that to break this hlorkaik^ our 
ships must he aiuuHl for i.h>feuse ; auil that for this purpose au- 
thority and tuouoy \\eri> re^uestinl. 

To meet this reqm^st a hill was at oiwc iutroJiu'tHl in the 
llonse to authorize the Presitleut to sup[>ly arms, anunuuition, 
and the uieaus of nsin^' theiu, to Auu'rioau aruuHl ami ri>j»'i stored 
merehant ships and to approj)riate for the purpi>se $l(>iK(>(>(\00(^ 
to be raised hy the issue ot" three [ler etMit bonds. 

Seareely had tlu> President tinislied readiui;' his addri>ss wheu 
a rnmor spread throni;h the (^ii)ital that I ho C'unanl passeni!;t>r 
liner Lacotila had heen torpedoed and an Amoriean wouiau aud 
hor dau^iihter lost. Was n(*t this, it was askeil, the ov(>rt aet for 
whieh the President was waitini;' ^ What would he do i Noth- 
ing, \vas tlie answer, until (^ouiiress has artod on his reipu^st. 

r>y tlu> nowspaiuM-s tlu- appeal o\i llio Presid(M\t was warinly 
approved. Ilo had askt^l tor too little; not too uuu'h. The 
powers he wisliod were barely short of those ue(>ded for war, 
hut the situation was haroly short o( war. We uuist defend 
our seamen and onr people in the exereise i^( their rii;hts, or 
nuike a eowardly snrreiuler t(^ the Pow(>r that has forbicKK-u \is 
to n'se them. Arminii,' i)ur uierehantuieii will uot [)ri'veut war. 
Germany has shown that slu- will not slaekeu her ruthlessncss 
in order to avcnd war wdth the Uniteil States. Nev(>rtlu'less our 
ships nuist liave the free use of the sea, uiust defeud themselves 
against (unauan subuiarines, aud the (ioverimieiit uuist furuish 
the gnus and the gunners. The Presiileut asks for uothiug nuu-e 
than the release of Amerieau eouuueree. If (u-ruuiu sub- 
uiariu(>s keep our shi])s in port they are doiug their hhu'kado 
work just as etfeetively as if tlu'y sauk the shijjs. If (Jroat 
Britain is starved (uuiuany eares not how ships are \<v\^\ otf the 
sea. The (Mueiiuuiti V(*//.-.s7)/(/// eouiplaiued tliat while the 
President demamled aruunl neutrality agaiust (Jeruuiuy, he did 
not say he wouKl send our ships under eouvoy to neutral ports 
from whieh they were barred by Knglaud. "it is this owo sided 
neutrality that will drive us into war, for sueh is the ultimate 
effect of the measures proi)osed by the Presid(M\t." 

Members of Congress were greatly tlivided iu opiui(»r.. 
"He has asked ns for a blank eheck," said one. "He wants us 
to give him a power of attorney to do as he pleases/' said an- 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 313 

other. "That address ought to be printed in the 'help wanted' 
cokmins," said a third. 

Kcpiiblicans held that the tliicc words "such otlicr instru- 
mentalities" in the hill gave him authority too broad in such 
critical times. Under it he might use the land and naval forces 
which would amount to a surrendca- of" the Constitutional right 
of Congress to declan; war. These words must be cut out and 
something specific, something definite suhstitutcul. Give him, it 
was said, the money needed; give him authority to loan guns 
and gun crews to American ships, hut n(jt the "blanket powers" 
requested. 

Such was the situation when on February 28, 1J)17, the 
Associated Press announced that on January 19, Germany was 
planning war on the United States, and on that day von Eck- 
hardt, German Minister to Mexico, was instructed by Foreign 
Minister Zimmermann to propose an alliance with Mexico 
against the United States, and to persuade Mexico to seek to 
bring in Japan. 

"On the first of February," the instructions read, "we in- 
tend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, 
it is our intention to endeavor to keep neutral with the United 
States of America. 

"If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on 
the following basis with Mexico. That we shall make war to- 
gether and together make peace. We shall give gxaieral financial 
support and it is understood that Mexico is to recon(iuer the 
lost territory of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The details 
are left to you for settlement. 

"You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of 
the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that 
there will be an outbreak of war witli the United States, and 
suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative, 
should communicate with Japan, suggesting adherence at once 
to the plan, and at the same time to offer to mediate between 
Germany and Japan. 

"Please call to the attention of the Pi-esident of Mexico that 
the employment of ruthless submarine; warfare now promises 
to compel England to make peace in a few months." 

The Senate, astonished and scarcely able to believe that the 



344 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

note as published in the newspapers was true, requested the 
President to furnish whatever information he had. He replied 
through the Secretary of State, that the Government was ''in 
possession of evidence which establishes the fact that the note 
referred to is authentic." Indeed Foreign Secretary Zimmer- 
mann admitted the note had been sent. Asked by a staff mem- 
ber of the official German press bureau concerning the note, 
he justified it as a proper measure of precaution in view of the 
possibility of war with America. 

When criticised by a leader of the Socialist minority in the 
Reichstag he said that his instructions were to be carried out 
only in the event of war with the United States. Herr Haase 
had said the note caused great indignation in the United States. 
Of course it was used to create feeling against Germany. But 
the storm had abated, and ''the calm and sensible politicians and 
also the great mass of the American people saw there was noth- 
ing to object to in the instructions themselves, jl refer especially 
to the statements of Senator Underwood." 

To the reproach that he had attempted to join Mexico and 
Japan against the United States he replied, if we wanted Al- 
lies against America, Mexico would be the first to be considered. 
The relations between Mexico and Germany from the time of 
Porfirio Diaz had been "extremely friendly and trustful. The 
Mexicans, moreover, are known as good and efticient soldiers." 
Relations between the United States and Mexico could hardly 
be called "friendly and trustful." All the world knew that 
antagonism existed between America and Japan. lie believed 
they were stronger than those which, despite the war, existed 
between Germany and Japan. ]^or was there anything ex- 
traordinary in his wish that Mexico should join with Japan. 
Good relations between the two had long existed. 

Opposition to the armed ship bill was now dropped in the 
House of Representatives and it passed by a vote of 403 to 13. 

It was then the first of March and on the fourth the life of 
the Sixty-fourth Congress must end. In the Senate a little 
group of Senators had been filibvistering for several days to pre- 
vent the passage of revenue and appropriation bills, and so force 
the President to call a special session of the new Congress. 
They now extended their filibuster to the armed ship bill, and 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 3i5 

soiiglit to prevent a vote before the session ended. During three 
days the debate went on, and lasted all through the night of 
March third and until twelve o'clock noon on the fourth when 
the session ended without a vote. 

Early in the morning of that day seventy-five of the ninety- 
six members of the Senate signed a protest. 

"The undersigned United States Senators favor the pas- 
sage of Senate Bill 8322, to authorize the President of the 
United States to arm American merchant vessels. 

"A similar bill already has passed the House of Representa- 
tives by a vote of 403 to 13. 

"Under the rules of the Senate, allowing unlimited de- 
bate, it now appears to be impossible to obtain a vote prior to 
noon, March 4, 1917, when the session of Congress expires. 

"We desire the statement entered in the record to establish 
the fact that the Senate favors the legislation and would pass it 
if a vote could be obtained." 

A few minutes later the President took the oath of office and 
entered on his second term. The day was Sunday. The cere- 
mony and the address with which, ever since the days of Wash- 
ington, it has been the custom to mark the inauguration of a 
President were therefore deferred till Monday the fifth of 
March. But, on the morning of that day when the people 
opened their newspapers, they found spread before them an 
indignant arraignment, by the President, of the eleven filibus- 
tering Senators. 

The termination of the last session of the Sixty-fourth Congress 
by constitutional limitation disclosed a situation unparalleled in the 
history of the country, perhaps unparalleled in the history of any 
modern Government. In the immediate presence of a crisis fraught 
with more subtle and far-reaching possibilities of national danger 
than any other Government has known within the whole history of 
its international relations, the Congress has been unable to act either 
to safeguard the country or to vindicate the elementary rights of its 
citizens. More than 500 of the 531 members of the two houses were 
ready and anxious to act; the House of Representatives had acted 
by an overwhelming majority, but the Senate was unable to act 
because a little group of eleven Senators had determined that it 
should not. 

The Senate has no rules by which debate can be limited or 
brought to an end; no rules by which dilatory tactics of any kind 



346' THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

can be prevented. A single member can stand in the way of action 
if he have bvit tlie physical endurance. The result in this case is a 
complete paralysis alike of the legislative and of the executive 
branches of the Government. 

This inability of the Senate to act has rendered some of the 
most necessary legislation of the session impossible at a time when 
the need of it was most pressing and most evident. The bill which 
would have permitted such combinations of capital and of organiza- 
tion in the export and import trade of the country as the circum- 
stances of international competition have made imperative — a bill 
which the business judgment of the whole country approved and 
demanded — has failed. 

The opposition of one or two Senators has made it impossible to 
increase the membership of the Interstate Commerce Commission to 
give it the altered organization necessary for its efficiency. The 
conservation bill, which would have released for immediate use the 
mineral resources which are still locked up in the public lands, now 
that their release is more imperatively necessary than ever, and the 
bill which would have made the unused water power of the country 
immediately available for industry have both failed, though they 
have been under consideration throughout the sessions of two Con- 
gresses and have been twice passed by the House of Representatives. 

The approj)riations for the army have failed, along with the 
appropriation for the civil establishment of the Government, the 
appropriations for the military academy at West Point and the 
general deficiency bill. It has proved impossible to extend the powers 
of the Shipping Board to meet the special needs of the new situation 
into which our commerce has been forced or to increase the gold 
reserve of our national banking system to meet the unusual circum- 
stances of the existing financial situation. 

It would not cure the difficulty to call the Sixty-fifth Congress in 
extraordinary session. The paralysis of the Senate would remain. 
The purpose and the spirit of action are not lacking now. The Con- 
gress is more definitely united in thought and purpose at this 
moment, I venture to say, than it has been within the memory of 
any man now in its membership. There is not only the most united 
patriotic purpose, but the objects members have in view are per- 
fectly clear and definite. But the Senate cannot act unless its leaders 
can obtain unanimous consent. Its majority is powerless, helpless. 
In the midst of a crisis of extraordinary peril, when only definite and 
decided action can make the nation safe or shield it from war itself 
by the aggression of others, action is impossible. 

Although as a matter of fact the nation and the representa- 
tives of the nation stand back of the Executive with unprecedented 
unanimity and spirit, the impression made abroad will, of course, 
be that it is not so and that other Governments may act as they 
please without fear that this Government can do anything at all. 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 347 

We cannot explain. The explanation is incredible. The Senate of 
the United States is the only legislative body in the world which 
cannot act when its majority is ready for action. A little group of 
willful men, representing no opinion but their own, have rendered 
the great Government of the United States helpless and contemptible. 
There is but one remedy. The only remedy is that the rules of 
the Senate shall bo so altered that it can act. The country can be 
relied upon to draw the moral. I believe that the Senate can be 
relied on to supply the means of action and save the country from 
disaster. 

The filibuster in the Senate aroused the indignation of the 
people. Mass meetings were held to condemn the little band 
of willful men. Some of them were hung in effigy. Resolu- 
tions of protest were adopted by societies and associations of 
importance; the legislatures of many states passed resolutions 
pledging support to the President, and the Senate made haste 
to change its rules. 

That branch of Congress, according to long established cus- 
tom, had assembled after the inauguration to act on any nom- 
ination to office the President might make. Never, in the 
whole course of its existence, had it laid any restraint on the 
length of debate. The previous question was unknown in its 
proceedings. But now, under the pressure of public opinion, 
on the eighth of March, 1917, a rule was adopted which pro- 
vides that by a two-thirds vote of the Senators present a measure 
may be brought to a vote ; that thereafter each Senator may de- 
bate the measure only one hour; that the question of its pas- 
sage must then be put ; and that no dilatory motions or debate 
shall be in order. 

The Senate having thus amended its rules, the President on 
March ninth summoned the Sixty-fifth Congress to meet on 
April sixteenth, and on the twelfth of March the Department 
of State informed all members of the Diplomatic body that, 
because of the announcement of the Imperial German Govern- 
ment on January thirty-first, 1917, that all vessels found within 
certain zones would be sunk without warning, the Government of 
the United States would place armed guards upon all Ameri- 
can merchant ships passing through the barred areas. The Sec- 
retary of the Navy then requested all newspapers and news 
agencies in the country not to publish the sailings of American 



348 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

ships from home or foreign ports, and give no information con- 
cerning the arming of ships. 

While the country awaited the meeting of Congress in 
special session, the world was amazed to hear that Russia was 
in a state of revolution and that the dynasty of the Romanoffs 
which had ruled Russia for three hundred years had been swept 
away. Signs of a coming crisis had not been wanting. A belief 
had long been growing that a large part of the nobility and 
the ruling classes was strongly pro-German, and was intriguing 
to have Russia desert the Allies and make a separate peace, and 
that the bad administration of army, affairs was a plot to impede 
the war. Food in the cities grew scarcer and scarcer. Pro- 
tests were made by workingmcn in Petrograd, and there were 
threats of a general strike. Letters in the newspapers, from 
popular leaders in the Duma, besought the people not to make 
disorders or hinder the manufacture of munitions. But, early 
in March, when they were told that flour was so scarce that 
for some days there could be no bread, strikes were declared; 
the disturbances took on the form of a revolution; the troops 
joined the people, and anarchy reigned. The Government was 
paralyzed. There was fighting in the streets of Petrograd; 
but, by the night of March 12, the revolutionists were in pos- 
session of the city and the red flag replaced the colors of Russia. 
The Czar ordered the Duma dissolved, but he was not obeyed. 
His authority was gone. A Provisional Government was estab- 
lished, and he, in turn, was bidden to abdicate. March 15, 
1917, he yielded and appointed his son Alexis as his successor; 
but that evening changed his mind and named his brother 
Michael. The right to do this was denied by the Provisional 
Government. What form of government there should be in 
Russia was for the whole people to decide, acting through an 
Assembly elected by universal suffrage. Michael declined the 
throne, and Russian autocracy became a thing of the past. 
From Petrograd the revolution spread to Moscow, to all the 
cities of the new Republic, • and the new Government was 
accepted with enthusiasm by the armies at the front. On the 
twenty-first of INlarch it was formally recognized by our Ambas- 
sador, and two days later by the Ambassadors of Great Britain, 
Prance and Italv- Meantime the Czar, the Czarina and some 



DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 349 

two hundred courtiers and upholders of the old regime were 
imprisoned in the Alexandrovsky Palace. A little later all 
save Nicholas and Alexandra were removed to the fortress of 
St. Peter and St. Paul. 

Would the new Government stand, and if it did would Rus- 
sia fight, or, intoxicated by Liberty, w^ould she make a separate 
peace, were questions which now gave great concern to all the 
belligerents. Instructions from Foreign Minister Milyukov 
bade the men who represented the new Russia in neutral and 
Allied countries say, as he had said to the representatives of 
the Allies, Russia did not wish the war which for three years 
has drenched the world with blood. Though a victim of long 
prepared aggression, she would continue, as in the past, to 
struggle against the spirit of conquest of a predatory race seek- 
ing to subject Europe of the twentieth century to the shame 
of domination by Prussian militarism. Faithful to the com- 
pact which joined her to her glorious allies, Russia was re- 
solved to "fight by their side against the common enemy until 
the end, without cessation and without faltering." 

Tons of grain and other foodstuffs found hidden in obscure 
places in Petrograd confirmed the belief that the pretended 
shortage was part of the plan of the old regime to force Russia 
to a separate peace. 

The first news of what was happening in Russia reached 
our country March 16, 1917, and was quickly followed by the 
intelligence that three American ships, the City of Memphis, 
the Illinois and the Vigilancia, had been sunk by German 
U-boats. Two were homeward bound in ballast, and all three 
were American built, owned and manned. The City of Mem- 
phis left Cardiff in ballast on March 16 and about five o'clock 
the next day encountered a U-boat, whose commander gave the 
crew fifteen minutes to leave the ship. The men, some fifty- 
seven in number, entered five boats; a torpedo from the sub- 
marine then struck the Memphis on the starboard side, and in 
a few minutes she sank. During the night the boats became 
separated, but early Sunday morning a patrol boat picked 
up three of them containing thirty-three men, almost all 
Americans. 



350 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

The Vigilancia was torpedoed without any warning, but the 
Captain and twenty-eight men landed on the Scilly Islands. 

The overt act had now been coniniitted, if indeed it had not 
been committed long before. That Germany was determined 
to send to the bottom every vessel, whatever its character, neu- 
tral merchantman, passenger, Belgian llelief, found within her 
forbidden zones was no longer to be doubted. War with Ger- 
many existed. 



CHAPTER XITI 



WE ENTER THE WAE 



What the President thought of the situation was made 
manifest when, on ]\[arch 21, he recalled his proclamation of 
March 9 and summoned Congress to m^eet in extraordinary ses- 
sion at noon on April 2, instead of April 16, ''to receive a 
communication concerning grave matters of national policy 
which should be taken immediately under consideration." 

To the Sixty-fifth Congress, when it assembled on the 
appointed day, the President delivered his war message at the 
unusual hour of half-past eight in the evening. All day long 
the pacifists had been active in their opposition. They sought 
to get possession of the Capitol steps up which the President 
was to go ; but were dispersed by the police. Some entered the 
room of the Vice-President, behaved in an unseemly manner 
and were put out. Others attacked Senator Lodge. It 
became necessary as a means of precaution to guard the ap- 
proaches to the Capitol with two troops of cavalry, and put 
secret service men and police on guard in the corridors. 
Another troop of cavalry guarded the President while on his 
way to the Capitol from the White House. I^Tever on any 
former visit had he met with such applause, such cheering, as 
greeted him as he entered the Chamber of the House, walked 
to the Speaker's desk and looked out upon an excited audience 
almost every member of which was waving or wearing a na- 
tional flag. It was some minutes before he was able to begin 
his address. He said: 

"Gentlemen of the Congress : 

I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because 
there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made 
immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permis- 
sible that I should assume the responsibility of making. 

351 



352 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

On the tliird of February last I officially laid before you the 
extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government 
that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put 
aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to 
sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great 
Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the 
ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. 

That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine 
warfare earlier in the war, but since April of last year the Imperial 
Government had somewhat restrained the commanders of its under- 
sea craft in conformity with its promise then given to us that pas- 
senger boats should not be sunk and that due warning would be given 
to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy when 
no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that 
their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives in 
their open boats. . . . 

The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of 
every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their 
destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom with- 
out warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on boartl, 
the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents. 

Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely be- 
reaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were pro- 
vided with safe-conduct through the prescribed areas by the German 
Government itself and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of 
identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion 
or of principle. . . . 

The present German submarine warfa.re against commerce is a 
warfare against mankind. It is a war against all nations. American 
ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has 
stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other 
neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in 
the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The 
challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how 
it will meet it. 

The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a modera- 
tion of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our char- 
acter and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. 
Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the 
physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of 
human right, of which we are only a single champion. . . . 

There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of making; 
we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred 
rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. The 
wrongs against which we now array ourselves are not common wrongs; 
they cut to the very roots of human life. 



WE ENTER THE WAR 353 

With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character 
of the step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it 
involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitu- 
tional duty, I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of 
the Imperial German Government to be in fact nothing less than 
war against the Government and people of the United States; that 
it formally accept the status of belligerent which has thus been thrust 
upon it and that it take immediately steps not only to put the coun- 
try in a more thorough state of defense, but also to exert all its 
power and employ all its resources to bring the Government of the 
German Empire to terms and end the war. . . . 

While we do these things — these deeply momentous things — let 
us be very clear, and make very clear to all the world, what our motives 
and our objects are. . . . 

Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace 
and justice in the life of the world against selfish and autocratic 
power and to set up among the really free and self-governed peoples 
of the world such a concert of purpose and action as will henceforth 
insure the observance of those principles. . . . 

We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feel- 
ing toward them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not 
upon their impulse that their Government acted in entering this war. 
It was not with their previous knowledge or approval. 

It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon 
in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by 
their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of 
dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed 
to use their fellow men as pawns and tools. 

One "of the things that have served to convince us that the Prus- 
sian autocracy was not and could never be our friend, is that from 
the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting com- 
munities and even our offices of Government with spies and set crimi- 
nal intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity and counsel, 
our peace within and without our industries and our commerce. 

Indeed, it is now evident that its spies were here even before the 
war began; and it is unhappily not a matter of conjecture, but a fact 
proved in our courts of justice, that the intrigues which have more 
than once come perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating 
the industries of the country have been carried on at the instigation, 
with the support, and even under the personal direction of official 
agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Government of 
the United States, 

But they have played their part in serving to convince us at last 
that that Government entertains no real friendship for us and means 
to act against our peace and security at its convenience. That it 



354 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

means to stir up enemies against us at our very doors the intercepted 
note to the German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence. 

We are accepting this challenge of hostile purpose because we 
know that in such a Government, following such methods, we can 
never have a friend; and that in the presence of its organized power, 
always lying in wait to accomplish we know not what purpose, there 
can be no assured security of the democratic Governments of the 
world. 

We are now about to accept gauge of battle with this natural foe 
to liberty, and shall, if necessary, spend the whole force of the nation 
to check and nullify its pretensions and its power. We are glad, now 
that we see the facts with no veil of false pretense about them, to 
fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation 
of its peoples, the German peoples included ; for the rights of nations 
great and small and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their 
way of life and of obedience. The world must be made safe for 
democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations 
of political liberty. 

We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no 
dominion. We seek no indemnities for ovirselves, no material com- 
pensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one 
of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied 
when those rights have been as secure as the faith and the freedom 
of the nations can make them. 

I have said nothing of the Governments allied with the Imperial 
Government of Germany because they have not made war upon us 
or challenged us to defend our right and our honor. The Austro- 
Hungarian Government has, indeed, avowed its unqualified indorse- 
ment and acceptance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare 
adopted now without disguise by the Imperial German Government, 
and it has, therefore, not been possible for this Government to receive 
Count Tarnowski, the Ambassador recently accredited to this Gov- 
ernment by the Imperial and Eoyal Government of Austria-Hungary ; 
but that Government has not actually engaged in warfare against 
citizens of the United States on the seas, and I take the liberty, for 
the present at least, of postponing a discussion of our relations with 
the authorities at Vienna. We enter this war only where we are 
clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending 
our rights. 

We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German 
people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early reestablishment 
of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us, however hard 
it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is spoken 
from our hearts. 



WE ENTER THE WAR S55 

We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friend- 
ship in our daily attitude and actions toward the millions of men 
and women of German birth and native sympathy who live amoufr 
us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it toward all 
who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the Government in 
the hour of test. 

They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they 
had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt 
to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of 
a different mind and purpose. 

If there should be disloyalty it will be dealt with with a firm 
hand of stern repression ; but if it lifts its head at all it will lift it 
only here and there, and without countenance except from a lawless 
and malignant few. 

It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentlemen of the Con- 
gress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, 
it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It 
is a fearful thing to lead this great, peaceful people into war — into 
the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seem- 
ing to be in the balance. 

But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight 
for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts — 
for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to 
have a voice in their own government, for the rights and liberties 
of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert 
of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make 
the world itself at last free. 

To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, every- 
thing that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of 
those who know that the day has come when America is privileged 
to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her 
birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God 
helping her, she can do no other. 

That night, before the two Houses adjourned, a resolution 
declaring a state of war existed was introduced in each. 

Whereas, The recent acts of the Imperial German Government 
are acts of war against the Government and people of the United 
States ; 

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the state of 
war between the United States and the Imperial German Government 
which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally 
declared; and 

That the President be and he is hereby authorized and directed 



356 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

to take ininitHliato stops not imly to \n\\ tlio oinnitry in tliorou{j:li state 
of defonse. bnt also oxort nil ot' its pcnvor and oniploy all of its 
rosonroos to carry on war auainst tlio luiiiorial Ciornian Ciovcrnment 
and to bring- the oonllict to a suooossful torniination. 

AftiT a (lcltat(^ ol" thii'toon lnuirs llio rosolutiou passed the 
Senate, and Api-il 5 eanie before the llonse with a k)ng' report 
frem the Oomniittee en Fm-eiiin AlVairs. The eonduet of (ier- 
nianv towards the CJovornuiont. the people and thoir interests, 
the CVminiitti'e said, had been diseourteons, nnjnst, ernel, bar- 
barons and wanlinj;' in honesty and fair dealinii'. The Impe- 
rial CJovernnient was waui'ii;' war upon onr peopK' and onr com- 
nieree auil no eourse was open to ns bnt to aeeept tlie gage 
of battle, declare that a state of war existed, anil wage that 
war vigorously, Sinee its note of February 4, 15)15, deelaring 
that the Ciernian navy had been ordered "to abstain from all 
violenee against neutral vessels reeognizable as sueli," and its 
note of February 10, 1915, detdaring that it was "far indeed 
from the intent Itui of the (lermau Government ever to destroy 
neutral lives and neutral in-operty," the British steamer 
Falaba hail been torpedoed: the American steamer CusJiitig had 
been attacked by an aii'sliip: the American steamer ihdfVujht, 
the British liner LusUan'ui, and the American steamer Nchras- 
kan had been sunk and one hundred and twenty-live of our 
citizens had perished; the Aniu'iiitiii had been torpedoed; and 
the Onhuui, the Leo, the Leclanaw, the Arabic, Nicohian. and 
Hesperian destroyed with the loss of twenty-three Ameriean 
lives. 

The Conunittee then called attention to the assurance of the 
German Ambassador on Septend)er 1, 1915, that "Liners will 
not be sunk by our submarines without warning and without 
safety of the lives of nomxnnbatants, pnnided that the liners 
do not try to escape or offer resistance" ; and to the note of 
November 29 stating that "the German Government quite 
shares the view of the American Government that all possible 
care must be taken for the security of the crew and passengers 
of a vessel to be sunk. Consequently the persons found on a 
vessel may not he ordered into her lifeboats except when the 
general conditions, that is to say, the weather, the conditions 



VVK EST Eli 'ilW. \V,\U r,r,7 

of tJic Hc.ii, and flic Tici^\i\)()r\i(><)i\ of coaHtn, aiford abHoIulo cer- 
tainly that the boats will \cH<-\t iIk; nearest port." 

Yet ovon thoHe pl(;fJ^(;.H wore not kept. In Dccemhor tho 
American HteanierH Communipav; anrl I'etrolite, the .lapanf^ne 
linf;r YaHdhi Maru, and tfie liner /Vma were sunk. On \\\(: 
Persia wcra 500 paH.sen^^erH, of whom but 105 were Haved. 
Among the lost was the American ConHul going to his post. 
In Marcli the: Frenfh linrr I'alria with Americans aboard was 
sunk witfiont warning; the Norwegian bark Hilius with seven 
Americans aboarri ; tlie British steamers /ienmndvaJe anrl J'Jnr/- 
ti.shman witli Atncr'x-nnA fi}»oarfj; the \''rcr\c]\ nnairrifid ffiannel 
steamer Suhhc/x and tlie liiitisli ]inf;rs Ma/nrfhr;fifj;r h'nrjineer and 
the /'JfifjUi J'oinl. On tho Hussex, twenty-four Americans were 
injured. 

Against all these acts we had protested in vain. In Ffhm- 
ary, ]!)15, thf: C/f!rman (government was told that the (j<)V(;nt- 
ment of the IJnitr;d States coiihl not recrjnciJe such acts "with 
flie friendly relations so happily existing betwr-en the two gov- 
ernments"; that it "would be constrained t/j hold the Imperial 
Government to a strict accountability for such acts of their 
naval authorities." In July, 1015, the German Government 
was told that "repetition by commanders of German naval 
vessels of acts in contravention of those rights must be regarded 
liy the Government of the United States, when they affect 
American citizens, as deliberately unfriendly." In April, 
1016, the German Government was warned that if it did "not 
immediately" abandon "its present methods of submarine war- 
fare against passenger and freight-carrying vessels the Gov- 
ernment of the United States can have no choice but t<^> sever 
diplomatic relations." 

In her answer of ^lay i4 Germany gave assurances that 
new orders had been given to her naval forces "in accordance 
with the general principles of visit and search and the destruc- 
tion of merchant vessels," and lived up to it until January 31, 
1917, when her ruthless submarine warfare was resumed. 

Turning from this summary of violated promises, the Com- 
mittee passed to a review of German intrigues in our counti-y 
and told of the doings of Captain von Papen and Captain 
Boy-Ed ; how Dr. Chakrabarty received $60,000 from the Ger- 



;^^s riir r\rn'i> srvi'i's i\ vwv woiii n w \i; 



mail Miiibjissv (ov •'liuliun n'v>>lulu'nafv |M»>|>!ii:!,iiiiilii in ihis 
ooiiulrv" ; liow Ihi^ (uMuiau I'ihIuismv tMiiploN cd I'.inrst T. 
iMiplirat U> raii\ inl\Muiath'U l>«M\\rcn IhmIih ami \\'asliini;t»Mi 
iiiuliM- ail AuuM'iraii pansport ; how fllii-ors tif iulcnicil waiilnps 
violattnl tlunr wovd of Iumu'c aiul how si\ yA' ihcin osi-aptHl ii\ 
a l>oat jMU'rhasctl with moiuv suppliotl hv iho (Jcnuaii Coiisnl 
at lurhmoiul , how umh'r I ho oscs of ('apiniu \oii rnpon and 
\\\>lf \i'n li'ol, llaiis \oii \\'t>drll mainlamod aii ollioo (ov iho 
proriutauoiit ot I raiuhih-iit pass[>oi'ts ft>f (JtMniaii ct^sorvists ; 
how .lauios ,1. I''. Ai'ohihnM, iiiidoc v-ovci o( an Amorioaii pass 
port ami in tho pav y^i Amhassailor \on iMMiistoilV. I'aii'it'd (lis 
]>atohi's {'ov Amhassatloi' Ihiinha and i-oniiniltod othrr iimioutral 
aots; how AMhmI O. Saiulof and olho;- (u'tinan ai;tMils sent Hpii>s 
to lvn}j;L>uul protortod hv Amrrioaii passports; how whon Irving 
CJnv Ivios with an Ainoriran passport wont to (Jornianv it was 
takon frt'iii hini and hoKI lor a (hi\ , how w hou rnnl .Inlins 
llonsi'I, a (iorinau spv, was ai'rostod in London he had a ooiin 
fi'rtiMl ot iho Ivit's passpiu't in his p()ss«'ssion , how proinintMit 
ittlioials »>t iho Ihunhnr;-, Ainorioan lino nndor iho diroohon of 
Hov l'!d attonipt(>d to snppiv (lorinaii warships at soa, how \»\s- 
st^ls wiM't' sont frian San l''ranoisco, Mtid how with funds fnr- 
llinhtHJ hv i'aptain l'"ran' \on rajuMi, W'ornor Horn attt-inptrd 
t(> hKiw lip tho intornational hridi;o at Naiu't^un-i*, Maiiu\ and 
Alhort Kaltst-hnrnlt attonipti'd to hhwv np a faotorv at Walker 
viilo, and tho arinorv al Windsor. (\Mnada. 

riu> (,\>intniltt'o no\t told ot hoinh plots ai;ainst ships. (ItM*- 
nian ai;oiits had horn i-on\ lolod and sontonr(>d for inakinr, luanhs 
t(> he attaohod l(> alliod ships loa\ in;', \'("w \ iM-k. I'ndor tlu< 
dii'iH'tion ot \on TaptMi and WCll \on Ivol, ('iiptam von KhasI, 
(^l|>tain Widpoit o( iho Alias Sioamship ('oinpanv, and (*aptaiii 
Ivoilo (>t tho llamhni;', Ainorioan I. mo mado inoondiarv hianhs 
aiuI |>nt tluan on h(>ard alliotl ships. I'lio .shells wci'o made on 
till'' stoainshi[> l''rit'ilriili </(/• (Ircssc. ('aptaiii l'"raii/ Ixintolon 
eaiiu^ from (Sonnaiiy, socrotlv, to proM-nt o\p(>rtafion ot innni 
tivnis to th»> Allies, orgaiU/t*d and linaneed l.ahor's Natiiuial 
Peaee (Vaiiu-il, and tried to hrini', ahont sti'ikes. 

l\>nsiil (ieneral iMijip at San l'"r!ineiset> and \' ieti (\>nsnl 
(leiieral \ on Sohaiek and others had heen eoinieted {^{' sending" 
ai^ents into Canada tt> hlow n|> hridi-^t^s, tunnels and w reek \'es- 



WK KN'IKU THK WAR 3r>9 

selH Hailing from l'u<'jfic CoaHl, ports witJj war nialr^rial for 
KusHia and Japan. Taul K^inif;^, })<;a<J of Wicret Horviw of tlu; 
11 am hurg-Amcri<;an Lino, .son! Hpics to ("anada to j^athor infor- 
mation conccrninj^ tlio Wc'liaii<l Caual, and movement of troop«; 
l;ribod a hank (;mployco to ^ivo information fjoncernin^ ship- 
mcntH to the Allien; went Hpies to Kiirope with Anxeriean pas«- 
portH to seeure military information, and was involve<l with von 
Papen in his homh plots. Finally, the indignities h<-ape<l on 
American eonsular oflieials hy Ci(M-man frontier authorities wlio 
ordeied them stripped an<l seaiehed, th<i d<;tention and mal- 
treatment of the Yu/rrovidaU [>rison(M'S, th<; det^^ntion of ^Jerard 
and the American ofjrr(;siA)nd<;nts, aiid the Zimmermann note to 
Mexico wen; passed in review. No such an arraijrnment of a 
<^h-m\. Power had ever hefore been made hy a Coinmittee of the 
House of Representatives, 

Aftej- some fifty sjieeclieH attacking an<l defending Germany 
the House, a few minutes after thrtje o'chx;k on the morning of 
April 5, V.iil, passed the joint resolution. The yoH weje '>7*i 
and the wiyH 50. 

Thus empowered to act, the President on April issued a 
jjrrxdanjation dwiaring that "a state of war exists Ixitween the 
I'nited States and tlui imperial German Government." 

'J'wo days later the Austrian charf)(i d'affairen asked for 
jjassports for himself, the embassy staff, the consuls and the 
Ambassador-designate Count 'I'arnowski, and diplomatic rela- 
tions with Austria were sev<;red. 'J'he Count, appointed t^j 8uc- 
f-eed l)v. i>umba, reached our country just as diplomatic rela- 
tions were severed with Germany and had not been rec^iived by 
the President when war was declared. Fourteen Austrian mer^ 
<rhant 8hip8, in our ports, were now seized by the Government 
as a measure of precaution. 

i'rorn the heads of the Entfinte J^^wers, from ministers of 
state, from mayors of cities, from learned Hocieties and uni- 
versities, came scores of Udegrams of thanks and <jongratula- 
tions to the President and the People of the Unit^^/1 States. 
iiy order of the War Cabinet the war sjXiech of President 
Wilson was placarded on all official billboards throughout 
France; celebrations were held and our flag was everywhere 



360 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

displayed. President Poiucare, of France, sent a long dispatch 
to President Wilson, 

"At the moment wluni, nnder the p,enerons inspiration of 
yourself, the ^reat American lu'pid)li(', faithful to its ideals 
and its traditions, is coming forward to defend with force of 
arms the cause of justice and of liberty, the people of France 
are filled with the deepest feelings of brotherly appreciation." 
He was sure he exj)ressed "the thought of all France in ex- 
pressing to you and to the Amei-icnu Nation the joy and the 
pride which we feel to-(hiy as our hearts once again beat in 
unison with yours." . . . "iln nevcu'-to-be-forgotten language you 
have made yourself, before the universe, the elocpu'nt inter- 
preter of outraged laws and a menaced civilization. Honor 
to you, Mr. President, and to your noble country." 

At Rome a great multitude carrying our flag and singing 
The Siar-Spangled Banner went to the American Embassy to 
cheer and shout, and former Premier Liezzatti and sixty-seven 
de^iuties dispatched an address to the President. 

"Your message, with its ideal beauty and political contents, 
brings us back to the dawn of civilization when the United 
States, inspired by Washington, gave to the oppressed people 
of Europe and of the two Americas the fruitful example of 
their redemption. Your message is not addressed to the United 
States alone, but to all lunnanity, and awakens the noblest 
instincts among free nations. Your message is the hynin of 
freedom." 

King George, "on behalf of the Empire," offered heartfelt 
congratulations "on the entry of the United States of America 
into the war for the great ideals so nobly set forth in your 
speech to Congress. The moral not less than the mat(>rial 
results of this notable declaration are incalculable, and civili- 
zation itself will owe much to the decision at which, in the 
greatest crisis of the world's history, the people of the great 
Republic have arrived." 

Lloyd-George in beh'&lf of the Imperial War Cabinet, in a 
message to the American people, said: 

"The Imperial War Cabinet, representing all the peoples 
and all the nations of the British Empire, wish me, in its behalf, 
to recognize the chivalry and courage which calls the people 



WE ENTER THE WAR 361 

of the TTnited States to dedicate the whole of their resources 
aud service to the greatest . cause that ever engaged human 
endeavor." Two phrases in the President's address, he said, 
would "stand out forever in the story of this crusade" — that 
"the world must be saved for democracy," and that "the menace 
to peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic Govern- 
ments backed by organized force and controlled wholly by their 
will and not by the will of their people," 

Parliament was not then sitting; but when it met on 
April 17 the House of Commons, amid cheers, and with but 
one dissenting vote, that of an |Independent Irish ^Nationalist, 
resolved : 

"This House desires to express to the Government and 
people of the United States of America their profound apprecia- 
tion of the action of their Government in joining the allied 
Powers, and thus defending the high cause of freedom and 
rights of humanity against the gravest menace by which they 
have ever been faced." 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in moving the resolution, 
deeply regretted "that the Premier is unable to be present him- 
self to move the resolution. Not only the members of Parlia- 
ment, but all the people of the British Empire and the allied 
countries welcome the new Ally with heartfelt sympathy. This 
is not only the greatest event, but, as I believe, the turning 
point of the war. The new world has been brought in, or has 
stepped in, to restore the balance in the old. Being in, the 
United States has already shown that her enemies must be- 
ware of her. Despite the fact that the path immediately before 
us is more difficult than ever before, I venture to express the 
hope and belief that a change is coming; that the long night 
of sorrow and anguish which has desolated the world is draw- 
ing to a close." 

Mr. Asquith seconded the resolution, and said: 

"It is only right and fitting that this House, the chief rep- 
resentative body of the British Empire, should, at the earliest 
possible opportunity, give definite and emphatic expression to 
the feelings which throughout the length and breadth of the 
Empire have grown day by day in volume and fervor since the 
memorable decision of the President and Congress of the 



362 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

United States. I doubt whether even now the world realizes 
the full significance of the step America has taken. I do not 
use language of flattery or exaggeration when I say it is one 
of the most disinterested acts in history." 

Sir Alfred Mond announced that the Government had 
given instructions that on Friday, April 20, the day set apart 
to mark, with suitable ceremony, the entrance of the United 
States into the war, the Stars and Stri])es should be flown, 
beside the Union Jack, on as niany public buiklings as 
possible. 

When that day, ''American Day," it was fittingly called, 
came, bright and clear, the good people of London beheld such 
sights as never before had been seen by man. From the Vic- 
toria Tower of the House of Parliament, over which until that 
day the flag of no foreign nation had ever been raised, they saw 
the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack flying in unison 
from the same staff. Through streets richly decked with 
American flags and lined with people they saw the King and 
Queen proceed from the Palace to St, Paul's to take part in 
''A solemn service to Almighty God on the occasion of the 
entry of the United States of America into the great war of 
freedom." 

How deeply that act of our country moved the thinking 
people of London was well told by Hall Caine in a cable to the 
Philadelphia Public Ledger. 

American Day in London was a f^reat and memorable event. It 
was another sentinel on the hilltop of time, another beacon fire in 
the history of humanity. The two nations of Great Britain and 
America can never be divided again. There has been a national mar- 
riage between them which only one judge can dissolve, and the name 
of that judge is death. 

Nature herself seemed to celebrate the nuptials. The morning 
broke fine with the breath of summer and the smile of spring. Never 
had the city looked so bright and heartsome. The crisp air seemed 
to crackle under the thud , and rumble of the thoroughfares. The 
Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes were entwined on countless 
flagstaffs, and cordons of police were keeping back the crowds that 
lined the course of the royal procession. 

The broad circle of St. Paul's was framed with faces. Rarely, 
if ever, has our old gray cathedral, compassed round with its tides of 
traffic, seen such a congregation. It was a solid mass of people from 



WE ENTER THE WAR 363 

the portico to tlie altar steps. The King and Queen were there with 
the beloved Queen Alexandra, the American Ambassador, the Min- 
isters and Ambassadors of the Allied nations, our leading statesmen, 
soldiers and sailors and a fair representation of the beauty and intel- 
lect of the nation. . . . 

It was not for nothing that the flags of Great Britain and America 
hung side by side under the chancel arch on Friday morning. At 
one moment the sun shot through the windows of the great dome 
and lit them up with heavenly radiance. Was it only the exaltation 
of the moment that made us think the invisible powers were giving 
us a sign that in the union of the nations for which those emblems 
stood lay the surest hope of a day when men will beat their swords 
into plowshares and know war no more? 

The United States of Great Britain and America! God grant 
that the union . celebrated in our old sanctuary may never be dis- 
solved until that great day has dawned. 

From the Old World the excitement spread to the I^ew. 
April 10 Brazil severed diplomatic relations with Germany 
and, aroused by the sinking of the Brazilian steamship Parana 
without warning by a German TJ-boat, seized forty-six German 
vessels in her waters. 

That same day Argentina announced her approval of the 
action of the United States, The posting of the declaration on 
the bulletin boards in Buenos Aires caused a great excitement, 
pro-ally demonstrations were made, and on the fourteenth the 
German consulate and the offices of several pro-German news- 
papers were attacked by the people. 

Chili declared she would remain neutral. Bolivia severed 
relations with Germany on April 13 ; Paraguay expressed her 
s^Tupathy for the United States ; UrugTiay would remain neu- 
tral, but recog-nized the justice of the attitude of the United 
States ; Costa Rica "indorsed the course of President Wilson" ; 
Panama canceled the exequaturs of all German consuls and 
approved of the declaration of war by the United States ; Cuba 
declared war against Germany. 

Without a moment's delay Great Britain and France each 
prepared to send a high commission to our country to express 
the thanks and gratitude of their Governments, and discuss the 
most effective way of cooperation. 

The British Mission, headed by Arthur J. Balfour, slipped 
out of England secretly on April 11, landed at Halifax on the 



364 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

twentieth, crossed to St. John and came by special train to the 
little town of MciVdam at the Canadian end of the Interna- 
tional Bridge. A special train brought them to Vanceboro on 
the American side, where they were received by the Third 
Assistant Secretary of State, Kear-Admiral Fletcher and Gen- 
eral W^ard and escorted to Washington. 

M. Viviani, former Premier of France, headed the French 
Mission. Accompanied by General Joffre, victor of the Marne, 
and a host of distinguished men, he crossed the Atlantic in a 
vessel convoyed by French ships of war and was met at night, 
a hundred miles at sea, by a flotilla of American destroyers, 
reached Hampton Roads April 24 and was carried to Washing- 
ton by the President's yacht, Mayflower. 

A visit was made to the tomb of Washington, where tributes 
were made by M. Viviani and Mr, Balfour, and a bronze palm 
laid on the tomb by General Joffre and a wreath of lilies by 
Mr. Balfour. To the wreath was attached the words : 

"Dedicated by the British Mission to the immortal memory of 
George Washington, soldier, statesman, patriot, who would have 
rejoiced to see the country of which he was by birth a citizen and 
the country his genius called into existence fighting side by side to 
save mankind from a military despotism." 

By invitation M. Viviani and Marshal Joffre appeared 
before the Senate and the House of Representatives, and were 
given a great ovation in each. Chicago was then visited, and 
St. Louis and Kansas City, and Springfield, where a palm 
was laid on the tomb of Lincoln, and then Philadelphia, ]S^ew 
York and Boston. 

While the French Commissioners were making their tour, 
Mr. Balfour by invitation addressed the House of Representa- 
tives. !Never before had a British official been so honored. 
May 11 they reached ISTew York and passed through streets 
lined with shouting multitudes. A reception at the City Hall 
was followed on May 12 by a dinner tendered by the Mayor's 
Reception Committee to both the French and British Com- 
missions. 

"I have not," said Mr. Balfour in his after-dinner speech, 
"come here authorized by my Government to set myself up or 



WE ENTER THE WAR 365 

set my friends up as instructors of the great American people." 
It might be, it probably was, the fact that there were certain 
mistakes which a democracy unprepared for war might make. 
''We shall be happy to describe these mistakes to you, if, hap- 
pily, it will be your desire to learn the lesson from them." 

Such was the purpose of the missions, and this purpose 
accomplished, they departed as secretly as they came and 
reached their destinations in safety. 



CHAPTER XfV 

THE CALL TO THE COLOES 

The call to arms found our country ill prepared for the 
great work which lay before it. Vast sums of money must be 
raised. A great army must be gathered and trained. Indus- 
tries must be mobilized. A peace-loving people must be aroused 
to a due sense of the meaning of their entrance into the world 
war. 

'Not a moment was lost. No sooner had the President 
signed the joint resolution declaring that a state of war had 
been thrust upon us than the news was sent by wireless and by 
telegraph to every fort and army post; to every warship, navy 
yard and naval station in our country and insular possessions; 
and to our Ambassadors, Ministers and consuls the world over. 
Every German vessel in our ports was seized, and scores of 
Germans, leaders in plots, were arrested in New York, Chicago 
and San Francisco; orders went out for the immediate mobili- 
zation of the navy, and the taking over of privately owned 
motor boats and yachts already enrolled ; the naval militia and 
naval reserve were called to the colors, and the work of enlist- 
ing was taken up with renewed ardor. 

The Council of National Defense and its Advisory Commis- 
sion went seriously to work. Created by Act of Congress, the 
Council consisted of the Secretaries of War, Navy, Interior, 
Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, and the Advisory Commission 
of seven men drawn from civil life, and put in charge, one of 
transportation, another of munitions, another of food, cloth- 
ing and supplies in general ; another of raw materials, minerals 
and metals; another of labor; another of engineering; another 
of medicine, surgery and sanitation. 

To aid them in their work there at once sprang up a host 
of Boards and Committees, each to play a special part in the 
mobilization of our resources and industries. At the request 

366 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 367 

of the Council the presidents of the great raih-oads met and 
named five men to put the railroads on a war basis. Mr. 
Hoover was invited to become Chairman of a Committee on 
Food Supply and Prices, charged with the duty of securing 
the cooperation of all food distributing agents, preventing if 
possible speculation and waste and increasing production of 
food. A general medical board of physicians, surgeons, den- 
tists and hygiene and sanitation experts was appointed to 
mobilize the medical resources of the country. An Economy 
Board was organized, and April 15 the President made an 
appeal to the people to increase the output of war materials 
and raise food in abundance. 

We must, he said, not only supply ourselves, our army and 
our navy but a large part of the nations with whom we had 
made common cause. We must build ships by the hundred 
"to carry to the other side of the seas, submarines or no sub- 
marines," whatever would be needed there, but which Eng- 
land, France, Italy, Russia could not spare the men, materials 
or machinery to make. Our industries, therefore, our farms, 
mines, shipyards, factories must be more prolific, more eco' 
nomically managed than ever before. 

To the farmers he urgently appealed. The "supreme need" 
of our owTi country and of our Allies was "an abundance of 
supplies and especially of foodstuffs." The importance of a 
sufficient food supply was "superlative." Without it "the 
whole great enterprise upon which we have embarked" would 
fail. On the farmers rested "in large measure the fate of the 
war and the fate of the nations." Might the nation depend 
on them to leave nothing undone that would increase the yield 
of their land. He called on "young men and old alike," on 
"able-bodied boys," to "turn in hosts to the farms." Farmers 
in the South were urged to "plant abundant foodstuffs as well 
as cotton"; middlemen were told the eyes of the country were 
on them; that the country expected them, as it expected all 
others, to "forego unusual profits," and organize to hasten ship- 
ments. Every one who cultivated a garden helped "to solve 
the problem of feeding the nations." Every housewife who 
practiced strict economy put herself in the ranks of those who 
served the nation. 



368 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

The response was quick. Thousands of young men and 
lads left the universities, the colleges, the high schools and 
the home and volunteered for work on the farms and in muni- 
tion plants and factories. Vacant lots in the cities were turned 
into little gardens with children for cultivators. The front 
lawns and flower beds of suburban residences were plowed and 
sown with every sort of vegetable seed and farmers, the land 
over, increased the acreage of corn and wheat, and potatoes. 

The Secretary of Agriculture declared the problem was not 
how to secure more acreage, but how to obtain more labor. In 
the cities and towns there were more than 2,000,000 boys from 
fifteen to nineteen years of age not engaged in work vital to 
the nation. These should be used. High schools and colleges 
in rural districts, he thought, should suspend their work and 
resume later than usual in the autumn, that the students might 
go to the farms. Industrial plants should do their repair work 
during the harvest, and certain public and private undertakings 
of lesser importance to the nation should shut down for the 
time being and so set free additional labor. To upwards of 
two thousand Boy Scouts, gathered on the plaza before the 
Department of Agriculture in Washington, and carrying gar- 
den tools of all sorts, the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture 
said: "Arm yourselves with pick and hoe. Till every scrap of 
vacant lawn. Raise tomatoes, beans and peas, and you will 
do an immeasurable service to your country," and the promise 
was given that the message would be sent to all Boy Scout 
organizations in the country. The day, April 21, had been 
called "l^ational Planting Day" and the boys marched to a 
three hundred acre plot donated by the Government for farm- 
ing purposes. 

In !New York City a mass meeting of Boy Scouts received 
a telegram from Mr. Hoover telling them that "America will 
have to feed the world for the next two or three years, even if 
the war should end this year," and Mr. Roosevelt urged them 
to "start a garden and thereby help to feed the soldiers." The 
Governor of North Carolina appealed to the County Commis- 
sioners to cultivate every idle farm and use every chain gang 
that could be spared from roadmaking to plant food crops, and 
three thousand women and girls, enrolled in clubs, pledged 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 369 

themselves to can all surplus fruit and vegetables. The State 
Council of Defense in West Virginia took up the question how 
to increase the food supply. In Alabama the Superintendent 
of Education promised to release all boys in the high schools 
and district agricultural schools for farm work, if their parents 
made no objection. In Detroit, Mr. Henry Ford promised to 
release a thousand men from his motor plant to go on the farms, 
and to take them back in the autumn. In Connecticut, the 
State Food Committee called for boys to work on the farms. 
A bulletin from the Department of Agriculture at Washington 
urged everybody to make gardens. "Somebody has to raise 
everything you eat. Do your share." In Philadelphia the 
Bourse and the Commercial Exchange organized a Farm Work 
Enrollment Bureau to mobilize the war-farmer boys for work 
in the West. A Ccmimittee of men of prominence living in 
towns near Philadelphia along the main line of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad formed the Main Line Food Supply Depart- 
ment of the State Committee of Public Safety and called for 
aid. Their purpose was to cultivate and maintain a series of 
Community War Gardens on all unused land one mile north 
and south of the railroad from ]\rerion to Villanova. ISTo money 
was wanted, but land owners were asked to loan unused land 
in quantities from one to twenty-five acres ; to donate labor then 
in their employ; to loan farm implements or horses, and give 
fertilizers and seed, potatoes, beans and cabbage, carrot, turnip 
and onion seeds. From information received, the Committee 
declared the need of cultivating every bit of unused land was 
more than urgent if the shortage of food sure to prevail in 
the autumn and winter was to be lessened. Vegetables raised 
in this way were to be sold at cost to the people of their towns. 
Not a cent of profit would be taken. Like appeals were made 
by Vacant Lot Associations, Community Gardeners' Associa- 
tions, School Garden Associations, and scores of others. Hun- 
dreds of students at the University of Pennsylvania joined the 
farm and industrial volunteers. It was the same everywhere. 
To raise food was not enough. Quite as important was the 
careful use of it. The American habit of wastefulness must 
be stopped, and this Mr. Hoover sought to do by an appeal to 
the women of the country. A nation-wide association, the 



370 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

United States Food Administration, was started and every 
woman above the age of fifteen was asked to sign a card and 
become a member. On the card were a few simple questions, 
and a pledge which bound all who signed to "accept member- 
ship in the United States Food Administration," and "carry 
out the directions and advice of the Food Administrator" in the 
conduct "of her household" in so far as "circumstances will 
admit." Each member was then told what to do, was given a 
card to hang in the window, and, if desired, a button. The 
first card, issued to the wife of the President, was hung in 
the window of the White House dining-room. 

In Philadelphia they were delivered at the door of every 
occupied house by the police, one Monday in July, and gathered 
on Wednesday. Nobody signed unless willing to do so. Those 
who did not were then visited by members of the women's 
clubs and organizations and the object of the card explained. 

That all might know how to save and what to save, Mr. 
Hoover sent out a food card to be hung in the kitchens. It 
called for the use of less wheat, meat, fats, milk, sugar and 
fuel; for a larger use of fruit and vegetables; for the canning 
or drying of surplus produce, and urged all to buy in the 
neighborhood and save the cost of carriage from places far 
away. One pound of wheat saved each week meant 150,000,000 
bushels for our Allies. This would help them "to save democ- 
racy." Sugar was scarce. "Wo use to-day three times as much 
per person as our Allies. If every one in America saves one 
ounce of sugar daily, it means 1,100,000 tons for the year." 
One-third of an oimce less animal fat each day would save 
375,000 tons in a year. Every American was in duty bound 
not to eat a fourth meal ; *'preach the Gospel of the clean 
plate" ; buy less, serve smaller portions, eat less cake and pas- 
try, less meat and no young meat, serve no wheat bread at one 
meal a day, and "watch out for the wastes in the community." 

The first step on the part of the Government was taken 
by the President. Acting under authority given him by an 
Act of Congress, he forbade the export of a long list of articles 
to any of fifty-six countries and their dependencies, save under 
licenses obtained from the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic 
Commerce. The purpose of the Government, he said, was to 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 371 

better the food conditions which had arisen and were likely to 
arise before the crops were harvested. jIn liberating any sur- 
plus over and above our own needs, the wants of nations fight- 
ing against Germany and her Allies would be first considered. 
I^eutrals would not be unduly hampered; but the Government 
must be assured that they were husbanding their own resources, 
and that our own supplies did not directly or indirectly go to 
feed the enemy, i^ot only was the shipment of food and fodder 
to be restricted, but such essentials as pig iron, steel, bullets, 
arms, ammunition and explosives. The ban was to go into 
effect on July 15. 

That the helpless neutrals, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, 
would suffer was to be expected, but for this Germany, and not 
the United States, was responsible. A comparison of our ex- 
ports during the nine months ending with March, 1917, with 
those for a like period ending with March, 1913, the year be- 
fore the war, showed that those to Denmark had nearly trebled, 
those to Korway had increased ninefold, those to Sweden four- 
fold and those to Switzerland twenty-fivefold. This did not 
mean that everything brought from our country was sent by 
these neutrals into Germany. Much of it was, and the rest 
went to make up the depletion of their own products caused 
by shipments to Germany. Sweden in times of peace was a 
large exporter of iron ore, but she was now selling to Germany 
each year more than she had ever before sold to all the world, 
and to replace her depleted stock was importing ore from the 
United States. Assurances from these neutrals that they would 
not send to Germany wheat, grain, copper, war supplies of any 
kind, bought from us, meant little if what they bought was 
merely to replace their own products sold to our enemy. This 
was the source of supply our duty to our Allies and ourselves 
required we should stop. 

A Danish journal .did not believe that the contest for liberty 
and democracy would be fought with weapons which would 
mortally wound small nations. Before the war President Wil- 
son had again and again upheld the right of neutrals to carry 
on trade with one of the belligerents. Before the war American 
goods in large quantities went through Denmark to Germany. 



372 THE UNTTET) STATES TX THE WORE!) WAR 

Indeed, it was to defend the neutral coiiiiiiei-eial rights of 
America that the United States declared war. 

A German journal called the embai'go a brutal assault 
against little neutrals. In France the embargo was hailed as 
one of the decisive acts of the war. The Allies, desj)ite the 
vigilance of their navies, had failed to make the blockade; tight. 
A new iiicasui'c was needed. This llie United States had fur- 
nished by forbidding iiidii'cct aid to the enemy. From iVorway 
came a spe(;ial commission, headed l)y the; Arctic explorer 
Nansen, to remonstrate. Norway, he said, was dependent on 
the United States foi- sup])lies. In times of peace she bought 
from (Jermany sugar, gi-ain and fats; but now she nmst get 
them fi'oni Americui. She was in great need of iron and grain. 
The harvest would be j)oor and little could be expected from 
the crop. 

When the new minister fi-om Switzerland arrived there 
accompanied him a. commission to present the needs of that 
(;ountry as to food. She raised but twenty per cent, of her 
food supply, and besides her own population must feed thou- 
sands of interned people from neighboring countries. Aft(!r 
some negotiation with Norway an agreement was reached by 
which she promised, if allowed to buy forty-seven thousand tons 
of cereals, to give up thirty-six thousand tons of wheat and rye 
for the benefit of Belgium. The rest, eleven thousand tons of 
barley, she was to ke(;p. Germany had sunk seventeen of 
twenty-three Belgium Kelief Commission ships, and it was to 
replace this loss that the thirty-six thousand tons were to be 
given up at cost and taken to Belgium in vessels Norway had 
chartered to carry foodstuffs home. 

A like agreement was tentatively made with Holland for 
th(! loading of some thii'ty of her ships, providcid the larger 
l^art of their cargoes was given to nelginm. But the Exports 
Council would not cons(uit, and it was soon announced that no 
ships with Amei-ican wheat would be allowed to sail to the ports 
of any north(;rn neutrals before; the lirst of December. The 
Netherlands, (l(!sj)it(! its ])rotcst, it was said, had wheat and 
grain enough for her population until that time. 

The (Mubargo j)ro('l:iination was scarce forty-eight hours old 
when the President aj)[)eal('(] foi- unselfishness in war prices. 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 373 

The Government was about to fix the prices it was willing to 
pay for supplies needed for the war. A fair price would bo 
paid. By a fair price was meant such as would keep the indus- 
tries concerned in a high state of efficiency, provide good wages 
and make possible such additions to the plants as war needs 
made necessary. The acceptance of such prices as the Govern- 
ment would pay must not be put on the ground of patriotism. 
At a time when hundreds of thousands of our young men were 
going across the sea to light, no true man who stayed home to 
work for them would ask himself how much he was going to 
make. 'No true patriot would take toll of their heroism, or 
seek to grow rich by the shedding of their blood. The Presi- 
dent had heard it said that more than a just price, more than 
was needed to sustain the industries, must be paid; that it was 
necessary to pay very generously in order to stimulate produc- 
tion; that nothing but rewards paid in money would do this. 
Do you who say so mean ''that you must be paid, must be bribed 
to make your contribution, a contribution that costs you neither 
a drop of blood nor a tear, when the whole world is in travail 
and men everywhere depend upon and call to you to bring them 
out of bondage and make the world a fit place to live in again 
amidst peace and justice ?" He could not believe that men 
"living in easy peaceful fashion" would exact a price, drive a 
bargain with the men who were enduring the dangers of the 
war on the battlefields, in the trenches, on the sea. 

Did the ship owners, the ocean carriers realize what obsta- 
cles they had put in the way of a successful carrying on of the 
war ? They were doing everything that high freight rates could 
do to make the war a failure, to defeat the armies fighting 
against Germany. When they realized this he was sure they 
would reconsider the matter. It was high time. But there was 
something else to be considered; the whole people were mob- 
ilized to finish the nation's task in the war, and under these 
conditions it was not possible to distinguish between industrial 
purchases made by the Government and those made by individ- 
uals. Prices to the public must be made the same as prices 
to the Government. 

His next appeal was to the housewives. Increased produc- 
tion, to which the farmers had responded so patriotically, was 



.•17i I'lll'- UNri'l'.l) S'I'A'I'I'IS IN Mil': WOKM) WAK 

but Ji ])iii't of lli(! Holiilidii (»r tlic. ('(»(»(! prohl(uri, lio Hiiid. What 
WHH ruiMtid iiiii.st Itc ciiird liM, iind hiivcmI. h'vi'ry ImimIicI nl" pulii- 
tom stored, eV01\y Im.iuhI nl vciTliddf.i pnl ii|» lur riilmr UH(i, 
ov((ry jjir of fruit iticscivcd, woidd licl|> (u win virtm y niid (mkI 
tljo war. VVr imiHt iis(* I'ikmI piowii lorally niid ho huiMcii l.lui 
preHHlUT oil llic liiilioadM and Iravi' tliriii I'm', |o carry lliiiif.';n 
lUHUiMHiiiy lor iiiililaiy |Mii|»omcm. I'ood wo did iiol iicod at onco 

imiMt llO COllHCIN'od. 

riir lollci' wiiH addi'c^iMod Id llio Nalioniil Ndlimlrci- ( 'oiii 
iiiiltt'o on llio l*n%s('ival ion id l*riii( and (lardcn riodnclH, rcp- 
rcsciil int-'; Iwnity roiir .slalon; was issued liy llic Sori'ctnry of 
A^riciillmc Willi wlioiii llir ( 'ciiiiiiiilico worked; and wa.s in 
reply lo IIk^ <|iie;i|ion, "How May lloiiMewi\eM I niiiiedialely 
Slait ( 'aiiniii^', I ' rosier v in/.', Tiekliiifi, I )ry inf* and I'reHervin;.'; ^" 

Inroiiiial inii nil llieie nialleis wan Ho OH^'OI'ly Monf.'lil lliat 
llie. " Nal ional Mniei/i,eiiey l''ood (iarden ( 'oinniiHuion," workin|i!; 
with tlio ( 'oJiH«irvalion I )eparliiieiil id' Ihe AiiKM'ican l'\tr»5rttry 
AHSOciatioU, iHsned a "lloine <oii(leii riiiiier," n "Homo (Jiin- 
iiiii^," and a "lloine hryin^i,' Manual lor Ve|!,('ta])loH and 
l^'ruitu," /jiviii;.' full iiisl riiel ions. To ;,a\'e friiilH and vo^'o- 
tahleri hy eaiinin^' was, IIiim year, a |inlriolir duly. 

( 'onfi,i'eHH while llie people were |)lnwiiiM iiiid |dantin^, vol- 
iiiiU'tM'in/.'' for farm work and pled;.' iii;.- I lieiiiM(^l\ en l(» Ha\'(t food 
and :ilo|i wii.'ile, wa.i Iniss' wilh a I'ood ('oiilrol Uill. Ah piiHHcd 
liy Ihe Senate, July l! I , llMV, I ho i'l'OHideiil, was eiiipoworod 
lo a|i|ioinl a hoard (d three e(iiiiiniHHion(M'H, one o| whoiii must 
he a larmer acliiiillN tMi^-a^cd ill raising' food, In |>eiroriii Hlleil 
dlllioH as Ihe rre.ideiil niijdil diieel. To deMlloy any 110('>((H- 
HiirioH in order lo enhaiiee llieir |iriee, In hoard, inonopoli/o, 
WiiHle, wilHiilly allow delerinral mn m iheir pioilnelioii or tnanit- 
faetiiro, oharfi,'*' an iinrnii |)iiee, eoiispire |o liiiiil ihe carrying', 
hai'\'OHting', Htoriii;.' or inakiii;.' in nrder lo enhanee llieir pi'ico 
waH a inindeineaiior pnniMhahle with iinpriHoiinient lor two 
yourB, or a line of $10,(10(1, nr Im^IIi. 

l'\iod;i, ieed;!, fuel, ;inp|ilies (d any kind needed for tlio 
arniv, Ihe iia\'v, llie eoinnion dolons(^ ini^'ht he seized and a 
jnsl priee paid, and so iiii;dil any laelory, mine, paekiii;.'; house, 
(»r plant. Thai he mi^dil ;.'iiaranlee lair prices lo |»rodneer 
Hiul consumer Ihe rresideiit mi^lil huy, ntore, and sell lor cash 



'VllE CAM. I'O TIU: (OI.OHS .'J75 

at reasonable pricjes, fuel, wheat, Hour, meal, beana and pota- 
toes, and if Ik; found that deaiiiif^H iu futuren unduly raised 
the price of wheat and fo(jd cereals, he inif:'ht close the gj-aiii 
exclianges and declare such trading unlawful. Thirty days 
after th<; passage; of the a(;t no foods, fruits, f<jod materials, (jr 
feeds were to he u.s(nI in making- distilled li<pio)'s save foi' (i<jv- 
(n-nment use; inipoitulion of such li()Uors was to cease, and 
licpioi- in hand was to he taken nvo.v hy the Covernmeni. 'I'Ik; 
prices of c(jal and coke, wherever and wh(;nevei- sold, eith(!r by 
j)roducer or dealer, might In; fixed; the canying, distribution 
and allotment among mei'chants and consumers j-egnlated ; and 
if necessary (he juines ajid yards of dealers seized and oper- 
ated. On(; huiKinid and fifty million dollars were appropriated 
for th(; purp(jses of the act. Whenev(!r, in the opini<jn of the 
President, it became necessary, he might require any ixtvaon 
or corporation, operating a grain elevatoi', a cold storage estab- 
lishment for th(! storage oi meat, pcjultry or dairy products, a 
j>acking h<juse pr<j(hicing meat or meat products, a factory mak- 
ing farm imj)l(;ments or machinery, the operator of a coal mine, 
or person making, handling, or storing fertilizers to take out 
a licfjnse, provided the articles made or stor<;d formed "a part 
of interstate or foreign commerce." 

Finally, there was to be a committee, composed oi five 
senators and five representatives, to be called "The Joint Com- 
mittee on Expenditures in the Conduct of the War." As the 
name implied, it was to keep watch over the use made of all 
appropriations by Congress, all contracts entered into by (;fficers 
of th<^ executive; d(;partments, Ixjaring on the condu<5t of th(; 
war. It was to advise and confer with the President, the heads 
of all executive departments, c<jmmissions, voluntary boards 
and organizations connected with the conduct of the war, might 
send for persons and papers, administer oaths, and comp(;l 
attendance. 

'J'o the bill in this form the President was strongly opposed. 
He disliked the board of three commissioners. He would have 
but one commission(;r, and that one, Mr. Hoover. He was 
opposed to the Joint Committee on the Expenditures and, while 
the bill was in conference, stated his objections in a letter to 
the Chairman of the House C<jmmittee on Agriculture, Xot 



S76 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

only was Section 23 which created the Committee "entirely 
foreign to the subject-matter of the food administration bill," 
but, if made a law, it would amount to the taking over by 
Congress of work of Administration and render his task of 
conducting the war impossible,, A like "committee on the 
conduct of the war" had been created during the administra- 
tion of Mr. Lincoln and had been "the cause of constant and 
distressing harassment." 

Before the bill passed both these objectionable features 
were stricken out, and Mr. Hoover was appointed what the 
newspapers called "Food Dictator." Not a moment was lost 
in putting the law in operation. ISTotice was at once served on 
speculators and "profiteers" that the day of reckoning had come 
for all who would not join in the effort to secure lower prices 
for the consumer and food for our Allies. 

"If necessary," said Mr. Hoover, "we shall not hesitate to 
apply to the full the drastic, coercive powers that Congress has 
conferred upon us" by the act. It was not his intention "to pro- 
ceed with a host of punitive measures," but by working with 
the various trades, make gambling, extortion, and wasteful 
practices impossible. A deep obligation rested on us to feed 
the armies and the peoples joined with us in this struggle. 
The turning of forty millions of their men from peaceful pur- 
suits to war and war work, the drafting of millions of women 
to take the places of husbands and brothers, the toll of the sub- 
marine had so cut down production that their harvests would 
fall five hundred million bushels of grain below the usual yield. 
Ko market but ours could relieve their pressing needs. Despite 
our own short crop we must send them two hundred and twenty- 
five million bushels. We must stop all waste, cut down con- 
sumption and use other food, such as fish, corn, cereals. Every 
ounce wasted was a contribution to starvation. There was no 
royal road to saving. N"othing but the cooperation of the 
twenty million kitchens and twenty million dining tables in 
our country would answer. 

First to be regulated were the prices of wheat, flour and 
bread. To stop speculation in wheat and flour it was now 
announced that on the first of September all elevators, and flour 
mills turning out one hundred and more barrels of flour each 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 377 

day must take out licenses; that no wheat could be stored for 
more than thirty days; that griiin exchanges would be asked to 
stop dealing in futures, and that a committee would be ap- 
pointed to fix a fair price for wheat. 

In Massachusetts a "wheatless week," during which no 
white bread was to be served in hotels, restaurants, or homes, 
saved, the State Food Administrator estimated, twenty-five 
thousand barrels of flour. In Chicago all dealings in futures 
ceased. Actual wheat for delivery was then selling at $2.40 to 
$2.60 a bushel. What price the Food Administrator would fix 
was yet to be determined. 

From the Department of War now came the announcement 
that an expeditionary force of "approximately one division of 
regular troops," commanded by Major General John J. Persh- 
ing, had been ordered to go to France as soon as possible, and 
that the General and his staff would precede the troops. The 
offer of Colonel Roosevelt to raise a volunteer force and take 
them to France, the President said, could not at present be 
accepted. 

"I shall not avail myself, at any rate, at the present stage 
of the war, of the authorization conferred by the act to 
organized volunteer divisions. To do so would seriously inter- 
fere with the carrying out of the chief and most immediately 
important purpose contemplated by this legislation, the prompt 
creation and early use of an effective army, and would con- 
tribute virtually nothing to the effective strength of the armies 
now engaged against Germany. 

"I understand that the section of this act which authorizes 
the creation of volunteer divisions, in addition to the draft, 
was added with a view to providing an independent command 
for Mr. Roosevelt and giving the military authority an oppor- 
tunity to use his fine vigor and enthusiasm in recruiting the 
forces now at the western front. 

It would be very agreeable to me to pay Mr. Roosevelt this com- 
pliment and the Allies the compliment of sending to their aid one 
of our most distinguished public men, an ex-President, who has ren- 
dered many conspicuous public services and proved his gallantry in 
many striking ways. Politically, too, it would no doubt have a very 
fine effect and make a profound impression. But this is not the 



378 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

time or the occasion for compliment or for any action not calculated 
to contribute to the immediate success of the war. The business now 
in hand is undramatic, practical, and of scientific definiteness and 
precision. I shall act with regard to it at every step and in every 
particular under expert and professional advice from both sides of 
the water. 

That advice is that the men most needed are men of the ages 
contemplated in the draft provision of the present bill, not men of 
the age and sort contemplated in the section which authorizes the 
formation of volunteer units, and that for the preliminaiy training 
of the men who are to be drafted we shall need all of our experienced 
officers. Mr. Roosevelt told me when I had the pleasure of seeing him 
a few weeks ago that he would wish to have associated with him some 
of the most effective officers of the regular army. He named many of 
those whom he would desire to have designated for the service, and 
they were men who cannot possibly be spared from the too small force 
of officers at our command for the much more pressing and necessary 
duty of training regular troops to be put into the field in France 
and Belgium as fast as they can be got ready. 

The first troops sent to France will be taken from the present 
forces of the regular army, and will be under the conunand of trained 
Boldiers only. 

The responsibility for the successful conduct of our own part 
in this great war rests upon me. I could not escape it if I would. 
I am too much interested in the cause we are fighting for to be inter- 
ested in anything but success. The issues involved are too immense 
for me to take into consideration anything except the best, most 
effective, most immediate means of military action. What these 
means are I know from the mouths of men who have seen war as it is 
now conducted, who have no illusions and to whom the whole grim 
matter is a matter of business. I shall center my attention upon those 
means and let everything else wait. 

I should be deeply to blame should I do otherwise, whatever the 
argument of policy for a personal gratification or advantage. 

A division of the army as reorganized for the war, it was 
announced, would consist — infantry, artillery, cavalry, engi- 
neers, signal battalion, aero squadron, all included — of 25,718 
men and officers. Wagon trains and motor trains would raise 
this number to 28,334, to which must be added the medical 
department of 125 officers, 1,332 enlisted men and 48 ambu- 
lances. 

Steps to mobilize the National Guard had already been 
taken. Late in March fourteen units of the Guard were called 



\ 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 37<) 

out for police purposes in nine Atlantic States ^ and the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and sent to protect railways, bridges and 
water works. Before the month closed twenty regiments and 
five battalions of the Guards in eighteen States from Ohio to the 
Pacific Coast were called ; the muster out of service of 22,000 
guardsmen who had been on the Mexican border was suspended, 
and seven more regiments called out. Thus, by April 1, 60,000 
guardsmen out of a total of 150,000 were under arms. 

The order, on April 6, for the mobilization of the navy 
found it 35,000 men short of the 87,000 authorized by law. 
But to put it on a war footing 99,800 regulars and 45,870 re- 
serves were needed. Of these 73,817 regulars and 25,219 
reserves were for use on battleships, scouts, destroyers, subma- 
rines and training ships; 10,633 regulars and 17,195 reserves 
for coast defense, and 10,318 regulars and 2,080 reserves for 
shore stations. 

The work of enlisting began at once. Every possible means 
of securing volunteers was used. Attractive cartoons and 
posters were affixed to fences and displayed in shop windows 
and at recruiting stations. Appealing hand bills were pasted 
across the fronts and sides of taxi-cabs, motor trucks and 
wagons. Movies depicted life on shipboard and in camp. 
"Wake-up, America," and "Your Country Needs You" became 
familiar forms of appeal. 

In this country-wide effort to arouse the men, the women 
bore a conspicuous part. From in front of the little brown 
tents scattered over every part of the great cities and towns, 
from platforms in halls where meetings were held each day, and 
from automobiles drawn up at street corners, they pleaded with 
the men to heed their country's call. 

Recruits obtained by such means were often far from 
satisfactory. Some, moved it may be by shame, gave fictitious 
names or false addresses when they signed, or did not report 
at the place to which they were directed. Scores of those who 
came to the tents and recruiting stations failed in their physi- 
cal examinations. Some were under weight. Flat feet, nar- 
row chests, bad teeth, defective sight or hearing caused scores 

* Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
ey Ivan ia, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. 



380 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WOIU.D WAR 

of others to be rejected. Nevertheless, stimulated by such 
appeals, the daily enlistments rose rapidly from twenty-five to 
a thousand a day for the navy, and to 1, lo t a day for the army. 
By the end of Jnly more than 1,000,000 men had offered, and 
558,858 had been accepted. Oi those 163,033 had entered the 
regular army; Gl^OOO the navy; 35,000 the Officers' Training 
Camp; 145,boO the National (Juard. 

Congress began its part in the work (vf preparation by the 
passage of a bill providing for a loan of seven billii>n dollars. 
Five billions "vvere to be in bonds bearing three and a half 
per cent, interest. Two billions were to be in slunt-tiiue Treas- 
ury certificates to be redeemed with money gathered by new 
taxes. Throe billitnis of the loan was to be lent to the Allies 
on such securities as the President approved. 

Early in Alay the Secretary of the Treasury announced that 
the first offering of bonds would be a $2,000,000,000 three and 
a half per cent, per year J.iherty Loan, open to popular sub- 
scriptions at par; that the denominations would be so small 
as to place the bonds within tlie reach of people of very mod- 
erate means, and that he had no doubt the otTering would be 
oversubscribed. The twelve Federal Kcserve Banks were to 
act as agents, each in its own district, for receiving subscrip- 
tions; taking care of the details of delivery of the bonds and 
payment of the subscriptions in such manner as n(^t to disar- 
range the financial situation. But subscriptiims were to be 
sought by all banks, trust companies, private bankers and boi" ' 
houses the country over. 

Subscriptions to the Liberty Loan came pouring in at once, 
from financial institutions in every State in the Union, and in 
every part vi the world over which our flag is flown, from the 
Philippines, from Hawaii, from Porto Rico, and from Fair- 
banlvs in Alaska. In forty-eight hours $311,(557,000 of the loan 
was taken, and two days later $417,421,000. It was then 
announced that the bonds would be redeemable at the option 
of the Government after fifteen years, that they would fall due 
in thirty years, that two per cent, must be paid when subscrip- 
tion was made, that the remainder might be paid in four in- 
stallments ; that the lowest denomination would be $50 and the 
highest $100,000; that the bonds would be of two classes. 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 381 

coupon and registered, and that no subscriptions would be 
received after June 15. 

The Secretary of the Treasury now appealed by letter to 
the heads of all Government departments and Governors of the 
States to aid in giving the widest publicity to the offering of 
the Liberty Loan, and asked them "to have all envelopes and 
other official mail containers stamped in red with the following 
lines, 'your patriotic duty, — buy a liberty loan bond.' " 
In the Philadelphia Federal Reserve District, National and 
State banks and trust companies agreed to send circulars and 
information regarding the loan to each one of their depositors ; 
investment bankers were to do the same with their customers, 
and on May 15 an army of bond salesmen set out to solicit 
subscriptions. The movies were called on to aid, flash on the 
screens throughout the country the words, "Buy a Bond," and 
prepare one-reel dramas written around the buy-a-bond slogan. 
Private bankers through advertisements in the newspapers 
offered their services to subscribers without charge, and urged 
all persons to buy. Every patriotic American was expected to 
subscribe no matter how small the sum. The loan was a 
sound investment for savings. It was not a tax or a gift. The 
Post-office Department stamped every piece of mail with the 
words : "Do Your Bit. Buy a Liberty Loan Bond. |Inquire at 
any Bank or Post-office." 

An appeal issued by the Philadelphia Liberty Loan Com- 
mittee of Bankers read: 

"Which do you choose — the harvest of victory, or the desolation 
of defeat? 

"Will you submit America to the frightful horrors of desolation, 
or will you loan your money to guarantee peace and freedom for the 
whole world? 

"Will you suffer the stigma of giving your country no help in this 
world-wide crisis, when you can loan your money (not have it taken 
from you by the soldiers' brute force, mind you) and be paid in gold 
for all you give? 

"Will you let your neighbors point at you with scorn, when you 
can so easily help your Government, and make safe your property and 
protect your family? 

"Remember, Germany watches ! For you to help with the Liberty 
Loan is to tell Germany that Prussianism must go! that f rightfulness 



382 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

must end; that you and all America are for a free world and free 
people. 

"The sooner you buy your bond, the sooner you end the war. 
Buy to-day — it is the prudent, patriotic thing to do !" 

The country over subscriptions poured in from social clubs, 
business men's associations, benevolent associations, manufac- 
turing companies and great corporations; from employees 
of manufacturing concerns of every sort, of department stores, 
of railroads, of cities ; from school teachers, wage earners and 
from the governing boards of church organizations. Many 
firms and corporations ottered to buy bonds for their employees 
and hold them till paid for gradually. Daily meetings were 
held in the theaters and appealing speeches made. 

As the last day for subscription drew near the bell in the 
tower on Independence Hall, "The Cradle of Liberty," Phila- 
delphia, was tolled each night at nine o'clock as a ''dirge for 
slackers." On the night of June eleventh the bell was struck 
four times as a reminder that but four days remained in which 
to subscribe. On June twelfth, three strokes, on the thirteenth, 
two strokes, and on the fourteenth, one stroke, its last appeal, 
was given. In many of the churches bells were rung. And 
so it was the country over, for by request from Washing-ton the 
slacker was reminded by ten thousand bells in churches, school 
houses, court houses, public buildings, that his country expected 
him to do his duty. 

At the close of the business day of June thirteenth the 
enormous sum of $342,000,000 was still to be raised and forty- 
eight hovirs left in which to do it. These hours were therefore 
marked by what was truly called "a tremendous eleventh-hour 
drive throughout the country." In Philadelphia, the old 
Liberty Bell, the bell that proclaimed "liberty throughout the 
land" when its joyful ringing greeted the reading of the Dec- 
laration of (Independence in the State House Yard, July 8, 
1776, was brought from its case, and the Mayor, in the pres- 
ence of a great crowd of invited guests, at twelve o'clock noon, 
struck it thirteen times, one stroke for each of the thirteen states 
that founded our Kepublic. From the Hall the sound was 
carried by telephone over the length and breadth of the land. 
Every form of effort was redoubled, young men with mega- 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 383 

phones appealed from automobiles to passers-by on the side- 
walk, subscriptions were taken on the curb stone, huge clocks 
showed how the subscription was mounting; railroads, indus- 
trial corporations, banks, business houses subscribed for their 
employees, on the installment plan; and when all was over it 
appeared that more than four million persons had subscribed 
for $3,035,226,850 of the loan. The Liberty Loan was over- 
subscribed. Subscriptions amounting to $17,000,000 had been 
secured by the Boy Scouts of America in a house to house can- 
vass. 

While the campaign for the Liberty Loan was still under 
way, CongTess was wrangling over the details of a bill to pro- 
vide a great army. Well aware that to draw two million men 
from the pursuits of civil life by the old fashioned method of 
volunteering would be too slow for the needs of the Allies, a bill 
providing for a selective draft was framed by the General Staff, 
approved by the President and laid before the Military Com- 
mittees of the Senate and House. As explained by the Presi- 
dent the force necessary to meet the emergency was to be raised 

by bringing the regular army and the National Guard to war 
strength, and by adding the additional forces which will now be 
needed so that the national army will comprise three elements, the 
regular army, the National Guard and the so-called additional forces, 
of which a first 500,000 are to be authorized immediately and later 
increments of the same size if they may be needed. 

In order that all these forces may comprise a single army, the 
term of enlistment in the three is equalized, and will be for the period 
of the emergency. The necessary men will be secured for the regular 
army and the National Guard by volunteering, as at present, until, 
in the judgment of the President, a resort to a selective draft is 
desirable. The additional forces, however, are to be raised by selective 
draft from men ranging in age from nineteen to twenty-five years. 

The quotas of the several States in all of these forces will be in 
proportion to their population. 

This legislation makes no attempt to solve the question of a per- 
manent military policy for the country, chiefly for the reason that in 
these anxious and disordered times a clear view cannot be had either 
of our permanent military necessities or of the best mode of organiz- 
ing a proper military peace establishment. The hope of the world 
is that when the European war is over arrangements will have been 
made composing any of the questions which have hitherto seemed to 
require the arming of the nations, and that in some ordered and just 



384 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

way the peace of the world may be maintained by such cooperations of 
force among the great nations as may be necessary to maintain peace 
and freedom tliroughout the world. When these arrangements for a 
permanent peace are made we can determine our military needs and 
adapt our course of military preparation to the genius of a world 
organized for justice and democracy. The present bill, therefore, 
is adapted to the present situation, but it is drawn upon such lines 
as will enable us to continue its policy or so much of it as may be 
determined to be wise, when the present crisis has passed. 

But what would be its fate iu the House of Representatives 
was watched with the deepest interest. The minority of the 
Committee on IMilitary Affairs favored a draft: but from the 
majority came a bill providing that the army should be raised 
by calls for volunteers, that no more than 500,000 should be 
called for at a time, and that conscription should not be resorted 
to unless volunteers failed to respond. 

This compromise the President made known he would not 
accept. "The idea of the selective draft is," he said, ''that 
those should be chosen who can be most readily spared from the 
prosecution of the other activities which the country must en- 
gage in and to which it must devote a great deal of its best 
energy and capacity. 

"The volunteer system does not do this. When men choose 
themselves tliey sometimes choose without due regard to their 
other responsibilities. Men may come from the farms or from 
the mines, or from the factories or centers of business who 
ought not to come, but ought to stand back of the armies in the 
field." The principle of the selective draft had at heart "this 
idea: that there is a universal obligation to serve and that a 
public authority should choose those upon whom the obligation 
of military service shall rest, and also in a sense choose those 
who shall do the rest of the nation's work." 

In the House, after a sharp contest, the supporters of the 
volunteer system were defeated, and a bill was passed embody- 
ing the principle of the President's selective draft. The Senate 
made three amendments of some importance. The House bill 
provided for drafting men between the ages of twenty-one and 
forty years inclusive. JMcmbers were opposed to waging war 
with young men only. A Senate amendment fixed the limits at 
twenty-one and twenty-seven years, and by another amend- 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 385 

ment authorized the President to regulate the sale of liquor 
both in and near training camps and military stations and if 
he saw fit forbid the serving of liquor to officers and men in uni- 
form. A third amendment provided for the acceptance of the 
Roosevelt volunteers: the House believed that a selective serv- 
ice bill should not provide for the acceptance of volunteers. 

As finally passed by Congress and approved by the Presi- 
dent the act gave him authority to raise the regular army, by 
enlistment, to 287,000 men, the maximum strength provided 
by existing law; to draft into the service of the United States 
all members of the !N^ational Guard and the ]!^ational Guard 
Keserve; and raise by selective draft an additional force of 
500,000 men or so much as he might deem necessary, and an- 
other 500,000 at his discretion. The age limits for drafted men 
were twenty-one and thirty years inclusive, and all male per- 
sons between these ages were required to register "in accordance 
with regulations to be prescribed by the President," or failing 
to do so became liable to imprisonment for one year. "The 
Vice-President of the Unitel States; the ofiicers, legislative, 
executive and judicial, of the United States, and of the several 
States, Territories and the District of Columbia, regular or 
duly ordained ministers of religion; students in recognized 
schools of divinity and theology ; all persons in the military and 
naval service of the United States ; members of sects whose 
creeds forbade them to engage in war ; county and municipal of- 
ficials ; custom house clerks, those engaged in the transmission 
of the mails ; artisans and workmen in armories, arsenals, navy 
yards ; pilots and mariners actually in sea service ; those em- 
ployed in industries and in agriculture necessary to the opera- 
tions of the armed forces ; those physically or mentally deficient, 
and those on whom some one depended for support, were or 
might be exempt. 

The signing of the bill was immediately followed by the 
signing of a proclamation, already prepared, which fixed June 
fifth as registration day, save in Alaska, Hawaii and Porto 
Rico, where a time for registration would be named later, and 
closed with another defense of the selective draft, and a very 
proper reminder that the day should "be approached in thought- 
ful apprehension of its significance, and that we accord to it 



386 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the honor and the meaning that it deserves," and that those 
called to the colors were not the only ones called to serve. 

The power against which we are arrayed has sought to impose its 
will upon the world by force. To this end it has increased armament 
until it has changed the face of war. In the sense in which we have 
been wont to think of armies there are no armies in this struggle. 
There are entire nations armed. Thus, the men who remain to till 
the soil and man the factories are no less a part of the army that is 
in France than the men beneath the battle flags. It must be so 
with us. It is not an army that we must shape and train for war, it 
is a nation. To this end our people must draw close in one compact 
front against a common foe. But this cannot be if each man pursues 
a private purpose. All must pursue one purpose. 

The nation needs all men ; but it needs each man, not in the field 
that will most please him, but in the endeavor that will best serve 
the common good. Thus, though a sharpshooter pleases to operate a 
triphammer for the forging of great guns and an expert machinist 
desires to march with the flag, the nation is being served only when 
the sharpshooter marches and the machinist remains at his levers. 
The whole luition must be a team in which each man shall play the 
part for which he is best fitted. To this end Congress has provided 
that the nation shall be organized for war by selection and that 
each man shall be classified for service in the place to which it shall 
best serve the general good to call him. 

The significance of this cannot be overstated. It is a new thing 
in our history and a landmark in our progress. It is a new manner 
of accepting and vitalizing our duty to give ourselves with thoughtful 
devotion to the common purpose of us all. It is in no sense a con- 
scription of the unwilling; it is, rather, selection from a nation which 
has volunteered in mass. It is no more a choosing of those who shall 
march with the colors than it is a selection of those who shall serve 
an equally necessary and devoted purpose in the industries that 
lie behind the battle line. 

The day here named is the time upon wliich all shall present them- 
selves for assignment to their tasks. It is for that reason destined 
to be remembered as one of the most conspicuous moments in our 
history. It is nothing less than the day upon which the manhood of 
the country shall step forward in one solid rank in defense of the 
ideals to which this nation is consecrated. It is important to those 
ideals, no less than to the pride of this generation in manifesting its 
devotion to them, that there be no gaps in the ranks. 

It is essential that the day be approached in thoughtful apprehen- 
sion of its significance, and that we accord to it the honor and the 
meaning that it deserves. Our industrial need prescribed that it be 
not made a technical holiday, but the stern sacrifice that is before us 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 387 

urges that it be carried in all our hearts as a great day of patriotic 
devotion and obligation when the duty shall lie upon every man, 
whether he is himself to be registered or not, to see to it that the name 
of every male person of the designated ages is written on these lists 
of honor. 

As the day drew near when registration would take place, 
anti-draft, anti-war demonstrations were made by Socialists and 
slackers who marched about the streets of the great cities dis- 
tributing leaflets and carrying banners. In Boston a band of 
Socialists, men and women, with red flags inscribed "War is 
hell — we demand peace" ; "Liberty bonds are a mortgage on 
labor" ; "Who stole Panama ?" "Who crushed Haiti ?" "If this 
is a popular war, why conscription ?" when marching down Tre- 
mont Street were met by sailors, marines and soldiers, their 
flags torn from them, their band forced to play the "Star 
Spangled Banner," and their meeting on the Common pre- 
vented. 

In Philadelphia, some thirty Socialists led by a German set 
out one day to distribute anti-draft handbills. A conscript, 
said the bills, is little better than a convict. He is deprived of 
his liberty and his right to think as a free man. In a demo- 
cratic country each man has a right to say whether he is willing 
to join the army. Only a despot can force his subjects to fight. 
Conscription belongs to a bygone age. You have a right to de- 
mand the repeal of such a law. Do not submit to intimidation. 
Scarcely had they begun their work when a crowd gathered, and 
some fighting ensued; but the Socialists were scattered and thir- 
teen arrested. Determined to put an end to such attacks on the 
Government, a raid was made a few nights later on the rooms 
of the Young People's Socialistic Society where a secret meet- 
ing was under way and some forty-nine slackers and anti- 
draft agitators and a quantity of anti-draft documents were 
captured. 

From the headquarters of the Socialist Party tens of thou- 
sands of leaflets and pamphlets were sent broadcast over the land, 
under such titles as "Down with Conscription"; "Down with 
War." "Every man," said one, "who is determined to uphold 
the dearest rights of personal liberty, every man who refuses to 
become a victim of the war declared by the Government to pro- 



S88 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

tect the millions loaned the Allies by the capitalists of this 
country should refuse to register for conscription." 

A Socialist journal in Kansas issued an envelope on the 
back of which was printed a violent appeal, containing such de- 
mands as : "Let those who want great victories go to the firing 
line and get them." "They say, war is Hell, then let those who 
want Hell go to Hell." 

At a meeting of the Socialist party in Cleveland it was re- 
solved that the draft act was a violation of the Thirteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution, that it proposed "involuntary 
servitude" ; that all members of the party be urged not to 
register for the draft, and pledged moral and financial support 
to all who refused "to become the victims of the ruling classes." 
Aroused by such appeals numbers of Socialists failed to register. 
!N^umbers of others, slackers who were not Socialists and 
quite likely never saw one of their leaflets, did the same. A 
search was made for such, and all who were caught were forced 
to register or, under the provisions of the draft act, were fined 
or sent to prison for one year. 

An estimate of the Census Bureau gave the number of men 
likely to be registered for service as 10,000,000, When the re- 
turns were received it was found that 9,586,508 had been en- 
rolled. 

The drawing of the 625,000 young men to form the first 
selective army, it was announced, would take place in Washing- 
ton on July 15. The serial numbers for each of the five thou- 
sand districts in the country would be placed in a wheel and 
drawn one at a time until the requisite number was obtained. 
Each number drawn would apply to each registration district, 
so five thousand men would be drafted at a time. Thus, if num- 
ber 20 were taken from the wheel, the man in each district hold- 
ing that number would be selected for service and required to 
appear before the local board for physical examination, or for 
the hearing of his claim to exemption if any he had. Before 
the drawing took place some changes were made in the plans. 
The numbers on the registration cards were disregarded, each 
man was given a new "red ink" number and required to go to 
the headquarters of the exemption board of his district and as- 
certain his new number. Ten thousand five hundred of these 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 389 

'^red ink" numbers, each in a black celluloid capsule, were 
thrown in a huge glass bowl, where all were well mixed, and on 
Friday, July 20, the drawing began. The Secretary of War, 
blindfolded, drew the first capsule, handed it to the announcer, 
who broke it, drew out the paper, said "ISTumber 258" and some 
man in each of the 4557 registration districts throughout the 
United States, if as many as 258 had been registered, was called 
to the colors. This number when thus announced was taken 
dowm by three tally clerks, was written on a huge blackboard 
in plain view of every one in the room and telegraphed to every 
city, town and hamlet the country over. The Chairman of the 
Senate Committee on Military Affairs drew the second num- 
ber; the Chairman of the House Committee on Military Af- 
fairs the third; and the ranking minority members of the two 
committees the fourth and fifth. 

Moving picture machines were busy while these early num- 
bers were being drawn, for it was the wish of the Secretary 
of War that the scene should be so recorded that the people 
might see for themselves in what manner the drawing had been 
conducted. 

By the people the result was watched with the deepest in- 
terest. In the cities, towns and manufacturing centers business 
was all but suspended. All day long and until far into the night 
crowds of young men whose lot was soon to be made known, 
lawyers, clerks, artisans, laborers, the fathers, mothers, friends 
of those likely to be drawn, idle spectators, thronged the side- 
walks in front of every bulletin board whereon the numbers 
were displayed. During sixteen hours and a half the drawing 
went steadily on until the last of the 10,500 black capsules had 
been taken from the bowl, and 1,374,000 young men had been 
drafted into the selective army. 

When the time came for drafted men to appear before their 
local boards for physical examination, bands of negroes, In- 
dians and tenant-farmers in Oklahoma determined not to be 
drafted, organized as the Working Class Union and the Jones 
Family and spread terror over three counties. Crops were 
abandoned, telegraph wires were cut, bridges burned, and peace- 
ful citizens forced into their ranks. Posses sent to arrest them 
found only women and children in their homes. As a warning 



390 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

to tliem and to resistants everywhere the Provost Marshal Gen- 
eral issued a statement. There was, he said, nothing to resist as 
vet. The call to appear before the examining boards was to af- 
ford an opportunity for those called to present reasons why 
they should not be ordered for military duty. Failure to ap- 
pear did not prevent the raising of the army. The names of 
those who did not come were automatically posted, and auto- 
matically they were inducted into the military service and 
made subject to military law, and the swift and summary pro- 
cedure of court nuirtial. Pailure to report for duty when or- 
dered was desertion, and desertion, in time of war, was a cap- 
ital offense. 

In the course of a few days several of the resistors were 
killed and some two hundred taken prisoners and held under the 
charge of treason against the United States. 

Mobilization of the young men drawn for selective service 
began in September. On the fifth of the month five per cent, of 
the white men enrolled in the first quota of the National Guard 
were to begin their journey to the sixteen instruction camps 
scattered over the country. That there might be no congestion 
on the railroads they were to go in five daily detachments of 
equal number, and, as far as possible, were to consist of men 
with some military experience. September nineteenth, forty 
per cent and October third, another forty per cent were to set 
out, and the remaining fifteen per cent were to go as soon there- 
after as possible. 

Never before in the history of our country had such an event 
occurred. Hundreds of thousands of young men, drawn from 
every walk in life, physicians, lawyers, business men, clerks, 
laborers, rich and poor were to leave their homes in every city, 
town and hamlet the country over, and go into training that 
they might be made fit to fight on European soil to make "the 
world safe for democracy." That such an event should be 
marked in some signal manner was most proper. On the third 
of September, therefore, the President addressed to them this 
message : 

To THE Soldiers of the National Army: 

You are undertaking: a great duty. The heart of the whole coun- 
try is with you, 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS sgi 

Everything that you do will be watched with the deepest interest 
and with the deepest solicitude not only by those who are near and 
dear to you, but by the whole nation besides. 

For this great war draws us all together, makes us all comrades 
and brothers, as all true Americans felt themselves to be when we 
first made good our national independence. 

The eyes of the world will be upon you, because you are in some 
special sense the soldiers of freedom. Let it be your pride, therefore, 
to show all men everywhere not only what good soldiers you are, but 
also what good men you are, keeping yourselves fit and straight in 
everything and pure and clean through and through. 

Let us set for ourselves a standard so high that it will be a glory 
to live up to it, and then let us live up to it and add a new laurel to 
the crown of America. 

My affectionate confidence goes with you in every battle and every 
test. God keep and guide you! 

In Washington, on the fourth of the month, the men drawn 
in the District of Columbia for the new army, in their civilian 
clothes, escorted by regulars, marines, national guardsmen, 
marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and past a reviewing stand 
before the White House. At their head on foot, walked the 
President, the Cabinet, and hundreds of members of the Senate 
and the House, a visible confirmation of the words of the Presi- 
dent "the heart of the whole country is with you." 

To the Chairman of the Mayor's Committee of National De- 
fense in New York the President wrote. 

Please say to the men on September 4 how entirely my heart is 
with them and how my thoughts will follow them across the sea with 
confidence and also with genuine envy, for I should like to be with 
them on the field and in the trenches where the real and final battle 
for the independence of the United States is to be fought, alongside 
the other peoples of the world, struggling like ourselves to make an 
end of those things which have threatened the integrity of their terri- 
tory, the lives of their people and the very character and independ- 
ence of their Governments. Bid them Godspeed for me from a very 
full heart. 

At the head of marchers was the Mayor, and behind him the 
Plattsburg graduates who a little later would be their officers 
in France. A banner carried by one division of the drafted 
men read "Harlem Hun Hammerers," and another "From 
Harlem to France." All along the route the buildings were gay 



892 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

with flac;s aiui tlio sldownlka doiiselv packcMl with excited and 
ohooring men and women. 

September iirst was the (hiy chosen h_y Phihidelphia to give 
Godspeed to her sons. Saihirs, marines, reguUirs, Ked Cross 
and coast reserve units and represcMitatives of ahnost every 
orc'aiiization in the citv formed the escort. Bombs were ex- 
phided from the roof of the City Hall, liydi'oaerophines from 
the JSTavy Yard and the scliool at Kssington iUnv over the 
marchers; aero})lanes dro})])cd capsuk's containing the message 
from the ]\Iayor to the friciuls and rehitives of drafted men. 
The British lu'crniting Station was represented; fifty Cana- 
dians wore sleeve bands inscribed "Comrades in Arms" ; the 
Emergency Aid and the War Emergency Unit had six tknits il- 
histrating their work; the Hahlwin Locomotive Wt)rlvs sent a 
French locomotive and a bannin- inscribed "Onr Energies Are 
Concentrated to Trelp Win the W^ir" ; the Eddystone C(n-pora- 
tion exhibited shells and a banner bearing the words "These 
shells will clear the way for the United States boys when they go 
over the top.'' Bnt the center of attraction were the few thou- 
sand boys in every day clothes, the Iirst of the city's quota to be 
called to the colors. Without arms, without uniforms, keeping 
no step, they brought to the dense crowd before which they 
passed a far stronger realizaticm of what the war meant to our 
countrymen than did the highly ti'ained and finely organized 
sailors, regulars and marines. 

Though wanting in all the pomp and circumstance displayed 
in the great cities, the Godspeed given the boys in the little 
towns was not the less sincere. Nay, it may well be it was 
deeper seated for the good people of the small connnunities must 
have realized far more keenly than the shouting crowds of the 
cities, that some of the young men they had seen grow up 
among them were leaving the home town never to return. 

Pacihsts, Socialists, Industrial AVorkers of the World, anti- 
war, anti-conscription, pro-German organizations of all sorts, 
meantime were busy with their propaganda. The Philadelphia 
branch of "Conscientious Objectors to War" one night in late 
August attempted to hold a meeting in the Arch Street Theater, 
to hear speeches and adopt resolutions asking the President to 
unite with the Pope in his proposal for peace. But the police 



THK CALL TO 'J J IK f:OI.OR.S SOS' 

refiiHcd a porrnit, h]rK;k(;(l tho (JofUH, an<J as t.fif; crowd wan \><i- 
^'inning to fJisporHC Horrio Hailor.s intcrfnrof] ari'j niarU-A a Hrriall 
riot. CarnrJrjn was tlien cJioHon for tlio rnootirif.^ hut, tficrf; too 
they were barrfjfj. 

lIoafJquarter.H of tho Socialifit.H on Arch Street were now 
riiirJcfJ an'J tfiounanrlH of Icaflct.s denouncing the draft act and 
calling ou all citizenH tf^ (Jinre^ard it, were wa'acA by the f;hief 
jjoHtal in.Hj^ector aiuj the S(;cretary and other.H arre.sterJ. Thoii- 
HandH of anti-draft leafletH, it wan charged, had been Hcnt to rnen 
in tlie training carnpH and dintributed on the Htreetn. 

'Jho J^eople'.s Council of America for Oernfjcracy and i^eace 
had been called to iner^t at Minneapolis. Itn purfx^ne wan un- 
derstood to be the foiTnation of a political party which Hhouhi 
unite all tlie anti-war prf>-Oerrnan or^^anizations which had 
been active ever since tlie war be^^an. Minneapolis was s^dect^^d, 
it wan understood, becaune the city had a Socialint Mayor, be- 
cause Wi.-xjonHin, Minn(;Hota and Xortli Dakota had lar^^e Oer- 
j/ian populations, because iri Xortli 1 Dakota was the lioine of tlie 
J' arrners' Xon-I^artisan Leajrue, openly opponed to the war 
policy of the Governnjent, and becaune in flays lx;fore the war 
the Xorthwest had been strong^ly infected with pacificism. 
Arnon^ its leaders and organizers were rnen well known as ex- 
treme Sociali.HtH. One had been in char/:^e of the Ford pc/dc/: 
paity, another was national Secretary of the Socialist party, 
a third editor of the Socialist journal, 7'he MdHHdH. 

Whatever the purpose of the meeting the (/(jvanior of Min- 
nesota was determined it should not be held, and issued a prwla- 
mation forbidding it anywhere in the State, as he believefl the 
purpose was to aid the enemies of the United States. The 
Governor of North Dakota then announced he would give the 
delegates protection should they assemble in that State. The 
Constitution, he said, guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of 
assembly, freedom of the press and of petition, and they were 
entitled to protraction. Fargo was then thought of as a meeting 
place, but the Attorney General promptly announced that no 
meeting would hi allowed at Fargo. Hudson, Wisr;onsin, was 
the next choice; but there also the city authorities interfered. 
The Mayor of Milwaukee having sent assurances that "lil^f^rty 
of speech and the right of the people to assemble to consult for 



394> THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

the common good," had not been suspended in his city, and hav- 
ing promised a welcome, it was decided to go there. But, when 
warned that the meeting won hi be resisted with violence word 
was sent out that Washington had been chosen. Government 
of the District, it was said, was in the hands of Congress. A 
denial of the right of the People's Council to meet would be a 
denial by the Government and not by 'Hhe unpatriotic caprice 
of any official." If no building could be obtained the plaza be- 
fore the Capitol would be used. The police of Washington an- 
nounced that no street meetings would be allowed. 

Nevertheless a meeting of the Organization Committee was 
held in Chicago ; but it had not been long in session when the 
chief of police appeared and ordered it to disperse. The police 
were acting under instructions from the Governor who said it 
was the duty of the Governor to preserve peace in the State; 
that if in his opinion disorder and riot were likely to result 
from the proposed meeting it was his duty and he had the power 
to prevent it; that it was his belief that the real purpose of the 
meeting was to obstruct the Government in the prosecution of 
the war, and was likely to cause disorder and rioting, and that 
no such meeting therefore should be held in Illinois. Under 
assurance of police protection from the Mayor of Chicago an- 
other meeting was held the next day, whereupon the Governor, 
notified of the defiance of his orders by the Ifayor, sent four 
companies of a National Guard Regiment, not yet taken into 
Federal service, from Springfield, but when Chicago was reached 
the meeting had adjourned. / 

A few days later a raid was made on the headquarters of the 
Industrial Workers of the World in a score of cities, and books, 
papers, records, documents, were seized. One of the warrants 
charged them with "willfully causing and attempting to cause 
insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny and refusal of duty in the 
military and naval forces of the United States," of "obstructing 
the recruiting and enlistment service of the United States," and 
"of using the mails for the transmission of matter advocating 
treason." 

The first contingent of our army was then in France. Early 
in June dispatches from London reported the safe arrival in 
England of General Pershino- and staff. The White Star liner 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS 305 

Baltic brought them to Liverpool with such secrecy that not a 
man in the f^nard of honor drawn up on the landing stage knew 
why he had boon paraded. General Pershing and his officers, 
standing at head of the gangway, were greeted by General Sir 
Pitcairn Campbell and Admiral Stileman and then came down 
to the wharf and inspected the Itoyal Welsh Fusiliers paraded 
in their honor, a regiment beside which many of the American- 
officers had fought during the Boxer rebellion in China. 

A special train carried the Americans to London where 
Lord Derby, the Secretary of State for War, Field-Marshal 
Lord French and a host of distinguished officers waited to bid 
them welcome. A round of dinners, receptions and formal calls 
followed; the King and Queen received them at Buckingham 
Palace; and June 13 the General reached Paris whither a part 
of his staff had preceded him. 

"From early afternoon," said the London 'Times, ''Parisians 
of all sorts and conditions began to line the two mile route 
along which the cortege was to pass. Thousands upon thou- 
sands of workers left shops, offices and factories in time to swell 
the ranks. The Stars and Stripes were waving in countless 
windows. At the station itself a company of infantry, with 
band, was drawn up to render honor. A few minutes before 
the time appointed for the arrival of the train M. Viviani, 
]\rarshal Joffre, General Foch, General Brugere, Military 
Governor of Paris and an officer representing the President of 
the Republic, and the Prefects of Police and of the Seine, as- 
sembled to receive General Pershing and his imposing suite of 
53 officers, 69 civil secretaries and 67 soldiers." 

On the fourteenth a visit was made to the Chamber of 
Deputies where another ovation was given the General. 

"The setting was worthy of the historic occasion," according 
to the London Times. ''The large, sweeping hemicycle of the 
Chamber was crowded, hardly a Deputy was absent, the public 
galleries were packed, and in the diplomatic box facing the 
Tribune sat Mr. Sharp, the American Ambassador, and the 
modest, khaki-clad figure of General Pershing. Time after 
time as M. Viviani eloquently described the part America is 
ready to play at this solemn moment of destiny the House was 
swept to its feet and General Pershing looked down upon a sea 



806 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

of upturned faces of cheering Deputies, while from the public 
galleries cheers echoed and reechoed." 

The departure of Pershing and his staff was no secret, but 
the people knew nothing of the sailing of the first contingent of 
fighting men until they heard with pride of its safe arrival on 
the twenty-fifth of June at a port in France. A second con- 
tingent arrived a few days later, and as July drew to a close 
a third landed at "a European port." So secretly did they 
come that no demonstration attended their landing. Only a 
few spectators saw them as they quickly entrained and left for 
parts unknown. 

At home, meanwhile, the militia had been mobilized. On 
the ninth of July the President, acting under the power given 
to him by the Constitution, called the National Guard into the 
service of the United States. In eleven States it was to 
mobilize on the fifteenth of July and gather in such places as 
might be chosen by the Secretary of War. In eighteen States 
and the District of Columbia the men were to assemble on the 
twenty-fifth of the month, and on August fifth those in all States 
were to be drafted into the new army under provisions of the 
act of May eighteenth. 



CHAPTER XV 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 



With our entrance into the war events in Europe, military 
and political, acquired for us a new interest and concern. From 
onlookers we had become allies. The war was now our war, 
and every victory gained, every check met with along the hun- 
dreds of miles of battle front was felt by us as never before. Jn 
the West the progress of the ruthless submarine war alone gave 
cause for deep anxiety. During February and March, if Ger- 
man reports may be trusted, 803 enemy and neutral ships had 
been sunk by submarines, causing a loss of 1,642,500 tons of 
shipping. On land all went well. The British and French in 
February and March drove back the German front between 
Arras and Soissons, for a depth of twelve miles, capturing 
Bapaume, Peronne, N^oyon, and some sixty villages. The 
country over which the Germans retreated they turned into a 
desert. Wherever possible, said the German account, houses 
were burned down before evacuation. Walls that would not fall 
were blown down when the artillery fire of the Allies drowned 
the noise. Whole villages disappeared over night, the people 
having gathered in a few designated towns where they would 
be safe. !Not a tree nor a bush — nothing was left lest it might 
give shelter to the Allies. Orchards were destroyed, fields 
ruined, farmsteads burned, every tree sawed oif close to the 
ground. Church organs were pulled to pieces for the copper, 
brass rails were torn from the altars and crucifixes pulled from 
the walls and broken. Tombs and chapels were blown to pieces, 
and young girls carried away. 

On Easter Monday, April 9, the British began another drive 
along a forty-five mile front from Arras to St. Quentin. By the 
end of the first day they had driven back the Germans along 
twelve miles of the line and captured the famous Vimy Ridge, 

397 



S98 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

and so opened the battle of Arras which raged day after day 
for more than a month. Vilhiges, ginis and thousands of Ger- 
man prisoners were captured and a great advance made. On the 
west all was going well. But not so in the east. Russia was 
giving way. 

The Provisional Government was recognized on the twenty- 
second of March by the United States, and on the twenty-third 
by Great Britain, France and Italy, and proceeded to make 
great reforms. Thousands of political prisoners were liberated 
and brought back from Siberia. Poland was set free and left to 
choose her own form of government ; Finland was given back 
her constitution, and religious liberty was proclaimed. 

Among those who came back to Russia was Vladimir 
Utulyanov, better known as Nikolai Leniue, a Radical Socialist 
leader allowed by Germany to return through Switzerland. He 
now used his liberty to denounce the Provisional Government 
and the Allies and to urge a separate peace. Angered by his 
harangues, an anti-pacifist demonstration was made in Petro- 
grad on April twenty-ninth. Hundreds of maimed, crippled 
and convalescent soldiers gathered in front of the Cathedral and, 
followed by thousands of the people, started for the Duma. 
Halting on the way before the American Embassy, they were 
addressed by our Ambassador. 

The work of Lenine, however, was not without effect. The 
Government was forced to declare its policy in a manifesto ad- 
dressed to the Russian people and formally communicated to 
the Allies in a note. It denied that Russia would make a 
separate peace, denied that the overthrow of the old Govern- 
ment had caused any slackening on the part of the new, pledged 
it to work with the Allies to bring the world war to a victorious 
end and declared its belief that, inspired by the same sentiments, 
"the allied democracies" would find means "to establish the 
guaranties and penalties necessary to prevent any recourse to 
sanguinary war in the future." To the Council of Soldiers' and 
Workmen's Delegates this policy gave great offense and, May 
fourth, demonstrations against the Government were made in 
Petrograd. In the opinion of these men the note was too vague. 
The Government must speak plainly and give the Allies to un- 
derstand that Russia stood for no annexations and no indemni- 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 399 

ties. A truce was at last arranged, a vote of confidence in the 
Government was given by the Council, and an explanation of 
the note of May first was announced. The Government in 
speaking of "a decisive victory," the Council said, did not mean 
that free Russia would seek to dominate other nations, or strip 
them of their ^'national patrimony," or by force occupy their 
territories ; but would establish a lasting peace on the basis 
of the right of each nation to arrange its own affairs. By 
"penalties and guarantees" essential to a durable peace the 
Government meant the reduction of armaments, and the setting 
up of international tribunals. This explanation was to be sent 
to the Allies by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Prime 
Minister refused to do this. To send another note was impos- 
sible. Rather than take such a step the Ministers would resign, 
an act which the course of events soon forced them to commit. 
First to go was the Secretary of War, whose place was given to 
Kerensky. Milyukov was the next ; a coalition Cabinet was then 
formed, and into it were taken six Socialists of all shades of 
opinion. Truly enough did Kerensky say to a delegation from 
the front, "The process of the change from slavery to freedom 
is not going on properly. We have tested freedom and are 
slightly intoxicated. What we need is sobriety and discipline." 
Meantime appeals and offers of aid were on their way to 
Russia from our country. Early in May the American Federa- 
tion of Labor through its president, Samuel Gompers, appealed 
to the Council of Soldiers' and Workmen's Delegates. "We as- 
sure you," said he, "of the whole-hearted support of the Ameri- 
can people." In free America, as in free Russia, agitators for a 
Prussian peace had spoken out so freely that they' seemed more 
influential than they really were. In truth, but few in America 
were willing to allow that Kaiserism should continue its rule 
over non-German people who wished to be free. Should we not 
then protest against that pro-Kaiser Socialist interpretation, no 
annexation, which demanded that all oppressed non-German 
people should be forced to remain under Prussia and her 
lackeys, Austria and Turkey ? Should we not rather hold that 
there must be no forcible annexations, that every people be 
free to choose its allegiance ? Like you we are opposed to puni- 



400 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

tive indemnities, and denounce those laid on Belgium, Poland, 
Serbia. 

"Let the German Socialists stop their pretenses and plottings 
to bring about a peace in the interests of Kaiserism. Let them 
stop calling international conferences at the instigation of the 
Kaiser. Let them stop their intrigues to cajole the Russian and 
American working people, to interpret your demand for no an- 
nexations, no indemnities in such a way as to leave intact the 
power of the German military caste. 

^^e feel certain that no message, no individual emissary, no 
commission has been or will be sent to offer any advice what- 
ever to Russia as to how she shall conduct her own affairs." 
Reports contrary to this had been circulated in Russia. They 
were the criminal work of pro-Kaiser propagandists, set afloat 
to deceive and stir up bad feeling between the two great 
democracies of the world. 

Something more than appeals and assurances of sympathy 
was needed if Russia was to continue to fight. She must have 
financial and material help and both were now supplied. On 
the ninth of May a commission of distinguished railroad en- 
gineers set off for Petrograd, to aid in rebuilding and develop- 
ing Russian railways and routes of transportation, and to carry 
assurances that the United States stood ready to furnish any 
amount of rolling stock and rails. May fifteenth $100,000,000 
was deposited in the Federal Reserve Bank to the credit of Rus- 
sia, to be used for the purchase of supplies in our country. 
That same day the State Department announced that a special 
mission headed by Mr. Elihu Root would be sent to carry to the 
new Republic greetings of friendship, brotherhood and God- 
speed, assurances of confidence and help and to break down the 
efforts of Germany and Austria to make a separate peace. 

Lest this should be done by the contending factions in 
Russia before the Special Mission arrived the President, May 
26, addressed a note to Russia. 

The approaching visit of the American delegation was a 
fitting occasion to state again, he said, "the objects the United 
States had in mind in entering the war." America sought no 
material profit, no aggrandizement, she fought for no advantage 
for herself, but for the liberation of peoples everywhere from 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 401 

the aggressions of autocratic power, for the liberty, the self- 
government of all peoples, and every feature of the peace which 
ends the war must be designed for that purpose. Wrongs must 
be righted, and then safeguards created to prevent their being 
committed again. No people must be forced to submit to a 
sovereignty under which it does not wish to live. 

No territory must change hands save for the betterment of 
its inhabitants. No indemnities must be demanded save in 
payment of wrongs done. No readjustment of power must be 
made save to secure the future peace of the world and the 
future happiness of its peoples. 

These things accomplished, the free peoples of the world 
must draw together in some common covenant which will com- 
bine their force to secure peace and justice in the dealings of 
nations with one another. The brotherhood of mankind must 
no longer be an empty phrase. 

The message was delivered to the Government in Petrograd 
early in June, but was not made public in the United States 
until the ninth of the month. A few days later the American 
delegation reached Petrograd and was lodged in the Winter 
Palace. The Provisional Government was then laboring hard 
to persuade the army to take the offensive. 

With the fall of autocracy all discipline in the army disap- 
peared. Fighting ceased; the Russian and German soldiers 
began to fraternize; and German agents went about trying to 
persuade the troops to demand a separate peace or at least an 
armistice. Men left the ranks and went home. Officers who 
did their duty were arrested by the men. On one occasion 
three regiments refused to occupy positions to which they were 
ordered. 

The German Commander on the Eastern front, quick to 
seize the opportunity, now sent a wireless to the Russian troops 
offering an armistice, and inviting delegates to meet him if 
Russia wished to know the terms of peace. The Council 
promptly rejected the offer. Russia was beginning to awake. 
The General Congress of Officers Delegates at Petrograd called 
for "vigorous fighting and an immediate offensive." At Odessa 
delegates from the front demanded that fraternizing with the 
Germans cease. Those doing so must be declared traitors, and 



402 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

if they continued to offend should be shot. Deserters must be 
deprived of the right to vote at the elections for the coming 
Constituent Assembly, and be denied a share in the future dis- 
tribution of land. A Swiss Socialist pacifist who had come to 
Petrogi'ad, and handed two of the members of the Provisional 
Government a telegram from a member of the Swiss Federal 
Council, was ordered to leave Russia. The telegram set forth 
that the sender was sure Germany would make an honorable 
peace with Russia, give her financial support, not meddle in 
her internal affairs, come to a good understanding concerning 
Poland, Lithuania and Courlaud, and restore her occupied ter- 
ritories. The Congress of Soldiers' and Workmen's Delegates 
of all Russia just gathered in Petrograd approved of the ex- 
pulsion, and the Duma resolved that the safety of Russia lay in 
an immediate offensive. 

July first the offensive began along a twenty mile front in 
/Galicia, and for a time all went well. Day by day the enemy 
/was driven back, mile by mile, on a front one hundred and fifty 
j miles long. All Russia was wild with delight. Congratula- 
I tions poured in from the Allies. Russia had found herself. 
The long hoped for blow had been struck. Then came the dis- 
aster. On the morning of the 17th, in northeastern Galicia, 
a regiment left the trenches and retired. Others when com- 
manded to advance held meetings and debated whether or not 
the order should be obeyed. This was the beginning. As the 
Executive Committee of the South Western front reported to 
the Government, a fatal crisis had occurred in the morale of the 
troops. ''Most military units are in a state of complete disor- 
ganization, their spirit for an offensive has utterly disappeared 
and they no longer listen to the orders of their superiors." 
Some left the trenches without waiting for the approach of the 
enemy. "For a distance of several hundred versts long files 
of deserters, both armed and unarmed, men who are in good 
health and robust, who have lost all shame and feel that they can 
act together with impunity, are proceeding to the rear of the 
army. Frequently entire units desert in this manner." When 
the month closed the enemy had won back'almost all of Galicia, 
and Aug-ust third crossed the Russian frontier northeast of 
Czernowitz. 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 403 

Just at this time the American Mission to Russia, coming 
home, reached our Pacific Coast. At a luncheon given to the 
members Mr. Root declared his unshaken faith in Russia. "I 
have," said he, "abiding faith that Russia through trial and 
tribulation will work, create and perpetuate a great, free, self- 
governing democracy." He praised the Russian people, their 
consideration for the rights of others, their "high capacity for 
self-control," their "noble idealism," and pleaded for sympathy 
for a nation struggling with problems we had been studying for 
a hundred and forty years and for which we have not yet 
found solutions. 

The faith of our Government was shown when, towards the 
close of August, $100,000,000 was loaned Russia, making 
$275,000,000 advanced since we entered the war, and the Presi- 
dent sent to the I^ational Council assembled at Moscow the 
"cordial greetings of their friends, the people of the United 
States," an expression of their "confidence in the ultimate 
triumph of the ideals of democracy and self-government against 
all enemies within and without," and "renewed assurances of 
every material and moral assistance they can extend to the 
Government of Russia in the promotion of the common cause 
in which the two nations are unselfishly united." 

The month was notable for the occurrence of many events 
of more than passing interest, or importance. Great gains were 
made and thousands of prisoners taken by the French and 
British along the battle front from Verdun to Ypres ; the 
Italians renewed their drive towards Trieste, carried Monte 
Santo by storm and captured prisoners, guns and stores from 
the Austrians ; the Pope amazed the Allies by laying before 
them a plan for peace ; our late Ambassador at Berlin aroused 
world wide discussion of the causes of the war by the publica- 
tion of his experiences at the Imperial Court ; and China, the 
seventeenth nation, declared war on Germany. 

The journals which announced the entrance of China into 
the war, also made known the peace proposal from the Pope. 
The note was addressed to the Leaders of the Belligerent Peo- 
ples ; but the Holy See having no diplomatic relations with the 
Republic of France, the kingdom of Italy and the United 
States, copies were sent to King George to be forwarded to these 



404 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Powers. Twelve other copies were likewise sent for the 
"leaders of nations friendly to the Allies" except Russia, Bel- 
gium and Brazil, to whom the document had been sent direct. 

News of the note and a summary of its contents came from 
Rome, but some days elapsed before an official copy was made 
public by the Foreign Office at London. It then proved to be 
an invitation to "the Governments of the belligerent peoples to 
come to an agreement on the following points which seem to be 
a basis for a just and durable peace." 

First of all these must be replacement of the force of arms 
by the moral force of right, and reciprocal disarmament, leav- 
ing only enough to maintain public order. There must be the 
replacement of armies by arbitration with penalties to be laid 
on any State that refused to arbitrate a national question or 
accept the decision. Indemnity for damage done and the cost 
of war should be waived ; there should be "entire and reciprocal 
condonation" ; Belgium should be evacuated with guarantees for 
her political, military and economic independence; Germany 
should be given her colonies in return for the occupied regions 
in France. Territorial questions such as those between Italy 
and Austria, and Germany and France, in other words, Alsace- 
Lorraine, Trent, Trieste, should be submitted to peaceful nego- 
tiation ; and so too should the territorial and political questions 
relative to Armenia, the Balkan States and Poland. "Such 
are the principal bases whereon we believe the future reorgan- 
ization of the peoples ought to be built. . . . Incline your ear 
therefore to our prayer. Accept the fraternal invitation which 
we send you in the name of the Divine Redeemer, the Prince of 
Peace. Reflect on your grave responsibility before God and be- 
fore man." 

In Great Britain the peace plan was held to be such as the 
Allies were bound to reject. It was pro-German, anti-Ally, and 
the outcome of German inspiration, a relayed message from 
Berlin. What were nations to think of a proposal which put the 
aggressor and the assailed on the same footing, and offered the 
innocent nothing but "entire and reciprocal condonation" for 
the wrongs they had suffered ? The hand of the Central Powers 
was in it. The hand was the hand of the Pope, but the voice 
was the voice of the Kaiser. The Allies' terms of peace were 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 405 

and would remain, full restitution, full reparation, effectual 
guarantees. They must, if they would survive, reject the pro- 
posals and see the war through. 

French opinion as set forth in the Paris journals was the 
same as that in London. The whole world, it was said, includ- 
ing the Pope, knows the peace terms of France and her Allies. 
The Pope has but sent the terms of the Central Powers. His 
offer is doomed to be rejected. How can a voice be raised in the 
name of divine justice and yet demand no punishment for the 
guilty, no reparation for all wrongs, those of 1871 as well as 
those of 1914? 

Lord Robert Cecil, speaking for himself, to the Associated 
Press, said : the Allies could not think of condonation until the 
criminals had repented and shown their repentance by word 
and deed. Yet he could not help feeling surprise and sorrow 
that the note contained not a word concerning certain outrages 
done during the war which made it impossible for the enemies 
of Germany to trust her or treat with her. Impartiality need 
not have prevented the Pope from pointing out and deprecating 
these outrages. 

In our country opinion was divided. There were those 
who could see nothing improbable in the suggestion that the 
terms of peace came from Germany or Austria. The Pope did 
not say with whom the Allies were to negotiate. If he meant 
Germany, the Germany which looked on treaties as scraps of 
paper, the treacherous Germany which murdered our citizens, 
sought the dismemberment of our territory, covered our country 
with spies and plotters, and defied our rights as neutrals, at 
the very time she was engaged in the exchange of friendly notes, 
the proposal ought to be promptly rejected. 

There were those who held that, as a stroke of policy, the 
President ought to urge on the Allies a careful consideration 
and acceptance of the proposal. Jt was not expected that Ger- 
many would accept. In that event she would have to settle 
with her Socialists, Radical Socialists and the Centrum party, 
which, as composed of Catholics, would be disposed to join in 
the demand for its acceptance, and the Junkers would be given a 
serious blow. If Germany did accept, which was not expected, 
a way to peace would be opened. 



UH) Till' iMi'i'i) siwri's IN rm'. W()Ki,n wah 

Tlunt' wiM-i' those who coiiKl sn^ uothinu- prartioal in (lu> 
proposal, nothiiii;- hut a nnhu'tiou ot" ai'inanuMit, the sotttui:: up 
of a \vorhl court, a rcMuin to tho sfafus (jiio ante hcllutn, to 
oouilitious as thov \vimh> IhM'imi^ iht- war. .\rbitratiou on .Msaoo 
l.ofraim\ Triosto. tht> Troniiuo. rohuul. ArnuMiia auil the 
Halkaus it was idle to oxpoot. 

Auu'ust -7 tlio rri'sidont niaih" his rolv. His lloliuoss hail 
in substaui'o proposoil a ri'turn to tho shihis ijiio (/;;/<• hclhnn. 
\\{t\x oouilouation, tlisarnunuont. a oonoort i>( luitious. troodoni 
of th(^ soas, autl a sotthniiout o{ tho territorial olainis i^( Fraui'o 
autl Italv. and oi' tho trouMosouio {u-(4>loni o'i \\\c Halkaus. It 
was oloar no part ot" this priigraui could W t-arricd out unless 
a r(>turu to the sfafiU'f (/uo ante li'ave a tirni and satisfactory basis 
for it. 

Tl\e objert ot" this war is to di^liver the (w'c pimples of the world 
front the menace and tlie actual i>owor of a vast military establish- 
ment controlled by an irresptnisibli> (u)vernnient. which, luivin^r 
secretly planned to dotnitnite the world, proceciled io carry the [dan 
out without rejiJird either to the sacred obligations of treaty or the 
lonfx-est.ablished practices anil lonf^-cherished principles of Interna- 
tional action and honor; which chose itss own time for the war; deliv- 
ered its blow tiercely and suddenly. stop{>eil at no barrier, either of 
law or' of mercy; swept a whole continent with the tide ot blood, 
not the blood of soldiers only, but the blood of innocent women and 
children also, and of the helpless poor; and now stands balked but not 
defcatixl. the enemy of four-tifths of the world. 

This power was uot the tJeruiau people, hut the ruthless 
master of the (leruuui peoi)le. To deal with it in the way pro- 
posed by 11 is Holiness would make necessary a pertuaiieut 
liostile condnnatiou o( nations against the (unanau people, and 
would abandon "the new-born Kussia \o the intrigues, tho mani- 
fold subtle iuterferynce. aiui the certain couTiter-revolution 
wdiich would he attempted by all the uuilipi iuiluouces to which 
the (uM-mau (un-ernment has o[' late accustomed the world." 

Can a peace be based upon a restitution of its power, or upon nn.v 
word of honor it could pledge in a treaty of settlement and accom- 
modation ? 

The President did not think so. 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 407 

We cannot take the word of the present rulers of Germany 
as a guarantee of anything that is to endure, unless explicitly 
supported by such conclusive evidence of the will and puri)ose of the 
German people themselves as the other peoples of the world would be 
justified in accepting. 

Without such guarantees treaties of settlement, agreements for 
disarmament, covenants to set up arbitration in the place of force, 
territorial adjustments, reconstitutions of small nations, if made with 
the German Government, no man, no nation could now depend on. 
We must await some new evidence of the purposes of the great 
peoples of the Central Powers. God grant it may be given soon and 
in a way to restore the confidence of all peoples everywhere in the 
faith of nations and the possibility of a covenanted peace. 

The test of every plan for peace, the President believed to 
be: 

Is it based upon the faith of all the peoples involved, or merely 
upon the word of an ambitious intriguing Government, on the one 
hand, and a group of free peoples on the other? . . . 

The purposes of the United States in this war are known to the 
whole world, to every people to whom the truth has been permitted 
to come. They do not need to be stated again. We seek no material 
advantage of any kind. 

We believe that the intolerable wrongs done in this war by the 
furious and brutal power of the Imperial German Government ought 
to be repaired, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of any 
people, rather a vindication of the sovereignty, both of those that are 
weak and of those that are strong. Punitive damages, the dismem- 
berment of Empires, the establishment of selfish and exclusive eco- 
nomic leagues we deem inexpedient and in the end worse than futile, 
no proper basis for a peace of any kind, least of all for an enduring 
peace. That must be based upon justice and fairness and the com- 
mon rights of mankind. 

Everywhere in our country the reply met witli approval 
by the press. His Holiness, said a New Orleans journal, sug- 
gests certain terms as a basis for discussion. The President 
answers, that negotiation is impossible so long as one side doubts 
the other's good faith. The Allies cannot forget that Hohenzol- 
lern Germany had no scruples about violating the neutrality of 
Belgium, a neutrality she stood pledged to protect, and the 
President cannot forget Germany's broken promises regarding 
subniarine warfare, promises which, as the Chancellor told the 



4()S TIIK UNITKI) STATES IN TIIF, WOULD WAR 

Ivcu'lishiii', were inciiiit ii) be Vv\){ \\\\\\v :i i;r(>;i(. Ilcol, of U-bonls 
avUkS ImiUlini:; nud iiol. ;in hour lon^vr. 

Tlio Prcvsiilcnl, snid miioIIum', r(>|)(>;its the distinct ion lie di-cw 
l)('l\V('('u tilt' (uM-inaii {H'o|)k> nnd tlio rnlini>- inito('rju'_y. His dcc- 
hii'jitioii tlmt Jinv ti'cntA' aurccMucnt. nnist Iimn'o the iiidoi-sonuMit. 
of tlio (u'rnian iH'opIc stales tlu' essential truth of the situation. 
'I'lio peoph' will applaud the diMuand (hat ])eaee when it. comes 
must hriui!; to dos])oiled nationalities a j'(>stitution of (heir 
lieritai2;es and to thMnoei-acies a safety that, can never he violated. 

"They read with tlicir eves shut who say that thc^ I'resident 
has rejected the peace proposals td* Pojx- l)eiuMlict./' said the 
l^hihuU'lphia Evening Jjcdgcr. V-av fioni it : he had, iu(h>cd, 
shown how the Genuaii jx'opli^ inii;h(, have j)eace: he had o[)ened 
tho gates for recoiie.ilia(ion and a wav out, of the wai'. Jlis 
words "we nuist await some new (>vidence oi' the purposes of 
the great peoples of the Central Towers," were an "invitation, 
open and ahoveboard, clear and emphatic." 

The wrath of the ])i'ess in (Jei-manv, as was to be expected, 
flamed high. The President nnist draw his knowledge of the 
Cernum peo[)le from the British press, else ho would know 
that in its belief in (he righteousness of (he eanse for which it 
bleeds and suil'ei-s (he (Sernian peoj)le is one with the (Jovern- 
ment. TTis languag(> was tht^ outward expression of solidai'itv 
with Kngland. He used the same weapons as his ally, held tho 
alleged (Ji'rman autocracy responsible for the war. The "an- 
toeratic system" of (iei'many could no longei" be chargiHl with 
cansing the war. Disclosures made by (general Sankchonitinotf 
on (rial for (reason, proved to (h(> woi'ld that the irresponsible 
despots of liussia were used to unleash (ho dogs of war. The 
charge against Cjernuiny was ridiculous and comic in the mouth 
of Mr. Wilson, that 'democratic ally of democratic England 
which nsed oligarchical Ivussia." Had his Democratic con- 
science always been as susceptible as he pretended it was, he 
would not have supplied the Czar's Ivussia with materials of 
war, he would not have played a part in the Anglo-Kussian plan, 
would not have used against Germany that poisonous weapon, so 
hateful to Democracy, "a conscious lie." Mr. Wilson's answer 
must be characterized as pitiful. The man who once stood forth 
as a peacemaker now blows one of the loudest war trumpets. 



GKK.VIAN lS'ili\(A:E 40i> 

Ifo who pror;Iairnc-d pf;aco vvitljoiit victory uow (h-mawln tjio 
crushing of Germany. Kvcry word of tfio note wan "^r<)UtH(\\u; 
noriHcnso." 'J'ho "clirnax of all nonnfmne." v/hh that the Oorrnan 
pooplo wore groaning un'Jf;r a cruel government. 1'he whole 
(jeople, rich and poor, Socialist anrJ Con;-;r;rvative, .stood firm for 
the Kmperor and the J'lmpire, anfJ rnigljt be relied on to Htand 
more firmly around the Kmperor "againnt thi.s hypocriU;." 

The, AuHtrian prcHH echoed the oxpreHHionn of the Gf;rman. 
'J'lie tone of the J'reHident'H note was unparalleled. In tlie rnont 
liurniliating and offennive manner terms were dictated to tho 
German people, if (jcnnauy lay prostrate, her army beaten, 
her fleets destroyf;d, no more degrading terms could have itaan 
proponed. He sets up a European Monroe Ihx-Xnuc and claims 
the riglit to change the forms of government on the Continent. 

JJespite the outburst of abuse and indignation the answer of 
the President to the Pope made a deep impre-ssion in Gr-rrnany. 
Matthias Erzberger, leader of the clerical center in the Jieichs- 
tag, it was announced would demand legislation to make the 
Government responsible to that body, and to leave the question 
()f Alsace-Lorraine to the decjision of the people in thos^; ter- 
rit^jries. A Sfxiialist journal of Ix'ipsic d^^dared that the Ger- 
man people must demand that its political institutions \xi made 
more democratic, and must repudiat/; the argiirnent of the pan- 
Germans that such charges cannot be made because they are in- 
sistfid uj><jn by the ananiy. 

The President in his reply V) the i^ope had referred V> '"'the 
malign influences to which the German Government has of late 
accustomed the world." One of the nations subjwted to this 
malign influence, as shown by documents now made public by 
Secretary Lansing, was Sweden. 

"The Department of State," said the Secretary, ''has secured 
certain tfdegrams, from Count Luxburg, German charge d'af- 
faires at iiuenos Aires, to the foreign ()if\fji at Berlin, which, 
I regret tf; say, were dispat^;hed from i^uenos Aires by the 
Swedi.sb legation as their own official message, addressed to 
the Stfx^kliolm Foreign Office. 

"The following are tranlations of the German text: 

"'May 19, 1917, Number '^2. This Gwemrnent Jias now release^l 
German and Au-strian shiph on which hitherto a guard Jiad been 



110 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

placed. In consequence of the settlement of the Monte (Protegido) 
case there has been a g:reat chanj^e in public feeling. The Government 
will in future only clear Arjientine shii)s as far as Las Palmas. I 
beg that the small steamships Oran and Guazo, 31st of January 
(meaning which sailed 31st), 300 tons, which are (now) nearing 
Bordeaux with a view to change the flag, may be spared if possible 
or else sunk without a trace being left ("Spurlos Versenkt"). 

" 'LUXBURG.' 

" 'July 3, 1917. Number 59, I learn from a reliable source that 
tlie acting Minister of Foreign Aifairs, who is a notorious ass and 
Anglophile, declared in a secret session of the Senate that Argentine 
would demand from Berlin a promise not to sink more Argentine 
ships. If not agreed to, relations would be broken off. I recommend 
refusal and if necessary calling in the mediation of Spain. 

" XUXBURG.' 

" 'July 9, 1917. Number 54. Without showing any tendency to 
make concessions postpone reply to Argentine note until receipt of 
fiirther reports. A change of Ministry is probable. As regards Argen- 
tine steamships, I recommend either compelling them to turn back, 
sinking them without leaving any traces, or letting them through. 
They are all quite small. 

" 'LUXBURG.' " 

The meaning is clear. If the ships could be spared, well 
and good. Jf they must be sunk, the destruction of tbem should 
be so done that not a man should escape to tell the tale lest diplo- 
matic relations with Argentina be severed and a means of send- 
ing important information to Berlin be lost. ■ But the real of- 
fense lay in the act of the Swedish Foreign Office which, by 
transmitting to Berlin information intended to aid German war 
measures, had committed an act of war against the Allies. 

At Buenos Aires there was an anti-German demonstration ; 
the German legation was stoned; the German Club and a Ger- 
man newspaper office were set on fire, and passports were sent 
to Count Luxburg, and his inmiediate departure requested and 
Germany duly notified that he was persona non grata. 

From Stockholm came the explanation that in the summer 
of 1915, Great Britain had requested, not formally demanded, 
that the sending of telegrams between Germany and Korth 
America should cease. The request was granted but the 
Swedish Minister did not consider this a bar to sending tele- 
grams to neutrals, other than the United States, and Sweden 
had continued to be the channel of communication between Ger- 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 411 

many and Argentina. The telegrams mentioned in the Ameri- 
can statement were written in code ; Baron Lowen, the Swedish 
Minister to Argentina, did not know their contents; had acted 
in good faith in forwarding them, and would not be recalled. 

But it was not only in Buenos Aires that representatives of 
Sweden had aided the cause of Germany. Her Minister in 
Mexico had been so helpful that the German jMinister urged 
that he be rewarded. His letter, dated March 8, 1916, was now 
made public by Secretary Lansing and reads as follows: 

Herr Folke Cronholm, the Swedish charge d'ajfaires here, since 
his arrival here has not disguised his sympathy for Germany and has 
entered into close relations with this legation. He is the only diplo- 
mat through whom information from a hostile camp can be obtained. 
Moreover, he acts as intermediary for official diplomatic intercourse 
between this legation and your Excellency. In the course of this he 
is obliged to go personally each time to the telegraph office, not seldom 
quite late at night, in order to hand in the telegrams. Herr Cronholm 
was formerly at Pekin and at Tokio, and was responsible for the 
preliminary arrangements which had to be made for the representa- 
tion of his country in each case. Before he came out here he had 
been in charge of the consulate at Hamburg. Herr Cronholm has 
not got a Swedish, but only a Chinese order at present. I venture 
to submit to your Excellency the advisability of laying before his 
Majesty the Emperor the name of Herr Cronholm, with a view to the 
crown order of the second class being bestowed upon him. It would 
perhaps be desirable, in order not to excite the enemy's suspicion, to 
treat with secrecy the matter of the issue of the patents until the end 
of the war, should the decision be favorable to my suggestion. This 
would mean that the matter would be communicated to no one but 
the recipient and his Government, and even to them only under the 
seal of secrecy, while the publication of the bestowal of the decoration 
would be postponed until the end of the war. I should be particularly 
grateful to your Excellency, if I could be furnished with telegraphic 
news of the bestowal of the decoration, which I strongly recommend, 
in view of the circumstances detailed above. 

Von Eckhardt. 

And now Secretary Lansing made further disclosures of 
German intrigue in our country by no less a personage than 
Count Johann von BernstorfP. 

^'The Secretary of State," so reads the public statement, "is- 
sues the following message from Ambassador von Eernstorff to 
the Berlin Foreign Office, dated January 23, 1917: 



412 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

"I request authority to pay out up to $50,000 in order, as ,on former 
occasions, to influence Congress through the organizations you know 
of, which can, perhaps, prevent war. I am beginning in the mean- 
time to act accordingly. In the above circumstances a public official 
German declaration in favor of Ireland is highly desirable in order 
to gain the support of Irish influence here." 



That the Ambassador would attempt to bribe Congress with 
so small a sum of money as $50,000, indeed, that he would try 
to purchase any member of Congress, was not to be supposed. 
IsTevertbeless, both Senate and House were thrown into violent 
excitement. Demands were made for a prompt investigation of 
the method of German propaganda and a member from Alabama 
declared that he could name "thirteen or fourteen men" in 
Congress who, in his opinion, had "acted in a suspicious 
fashion." Aiter the excitement had gone down a little the 
feeling grew that no investigation was needed; that the influ- 
ence on Congress to which von Bernstorif alluded was the let- 
ters and telegrams sent by thousands to members at every seri- 
ous crisis before the declaration of war. 

While the question was still under debate the Committee on 
Public Information put out a bulletin exposing certain Ger- 
man plotters and plots and the part certain Americans took 
therein before the United States entered the war. When 
Government agents one morning in April, 1916, entered the 
office of Wolf von Igel in Wall Street, New York, and seized 
the papers there found they came into possession of a mass of 
letters, telegrams, ledgers, checks, receipts, cipher codes, lists of 
spies all going to prove that the German (Imperial Government, 
while at peace with our country, through its representatives 
was deliberately engaged in violating the neutrality laws of the 
United States ; was planning the destruction of merchant ships 
on the high seas; was aiding Irish revolutionary plots against 
Great Britain; was supporting a spy system disguised as a 
"bureau of investigation" and a bureau to foment labor troubles 
in munition plants ; was paying Ajnericans to write and lecture 
in behalf of Germany and in short was financing a country-wide 
propaganda. Much of the evidence produced in support of 
these facts had been used in the prosecution of those concerned 
and had already been made public. Some had never before been 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 413 

published. All was of great interest because of the official de- 
nial of the German Government transmitted by wireless and 
published in the New York Times in December, 1915. 

The German Government has, naturally, never knowingly accepted 
the support of any person, group of persons, or organization seeking 
to promote the cause of Germany in the United States by illegal acts, 
by counsel of violence, by contravention of law, or by any means what- 
ever that could offend the American people in the pride of their own 
authority. 

Among the documents was a letter taken from the papers 
of Mr. James J. F. Archibald, when seized by the British in 
August, 1915. Jt was written by the Austro-Hungarian Minis- 
ter at Washington, and makes known the workings of a certain 
pretended labor information and relief bureau. Disguised as 
the Liebau Employment Agency with a head office in New 
York City and branches in Bridgeport, Philadelphia, Pitts- 
burgh, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago, and appearing to have 
no other purpose than securing employment for German, Aus- 
trian and Hungarian workmen, the real object of the Agency 
was to prevent the manufacture of munitions. The letter reads: 

It is my impression that we can disorganize and hold up for 
months, if not entirely prevent, the manufacture of munitions in 
Bethlehem and the Middle West which, in the opinion of the Ger- 
man military attache, is of importance and amply outweighs the 
comparatively small expenditure of money involved; but even if the 
strikes do not come off it is probable that we should extort, under 
pressure of circumstances, more favorable conditions of labor for our 
poor downtrodden fellow-countrymen. 

So far as German workmen are found in the skilled hands, means 
of leaving will be provided immediately for them. Besides this a 
private German employment office has been established which pro- 
vides employment for persons who have voluntarily given up their 
places, and it is already working well. We shall also join in and the 
widest support is assured us. 

How well this Agency succeeded in its work is told in a 
letter of March 24, 1916, to Ambassador von Bernstorff. 

"Engineers and persons in the better class of positions, and who 
had means of their own, were persuaded by the propaganda of the 
bureau to leave war-material factories." 



414 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

"The coiiiiiiorc'i;il ouiploynient bureaus of the eountry have no 
supply of unemployed teehnieians. . . . Many disturbances and sus- 
pensions which war material factories have had to suffer and which 
it was not always possible to remove quickly, but which, on the con- 
trary, often lead to loui^- strikes, may be attributed to the energetic 
propaganda of the employment bureau." 

JSToiirly a score of men are mentioned in the bulletin as hav- 
ing been eni;aii,ed in vitilating the neutrality of the United 
States. One, in a letter to Ambassador von BernstorlV, ex- 
pressed his desire to rent rooms near munition plants and blow 
them up; another otTercnl a shell of his own design; another de- 
scribes new methods of blowing up trenches and planting mines 
for the destruction of ships. 

The collection of letters in the ]H)ssession of the Secretary 
of State was not yet exhausted, and October 10 he made j)ub- 
lic three messages which revealed the fact that the Oerman 
Ambassador as far back as January, IDIG, had been a party to 
acts of war against the United States. 

"January 3: Secret: Cleneral staff desires energetic action in 
regard to proposed destruction of Canadian Pacific Eailway at sev- 
eral points with a view to complete and protracted interruption of 
traffic. Captain Boehm, who is known on our side and is shortly 
returning, has been given instructions. Inform the military attache 
and provide the necessary funds. 

"ZiMMERMANN." 

'"January 2G : For military attache. You can obtain particulars 
as to persons suitable for carrying on sabotage in the United States 
and Canada from the following persons: 1, Joseph MacCarrity, Phila- 
delphia, Pa.; 2, John P. Keating, Michigan Avenue, Chicago; ',i, Jere- 
miah O'Leary, 10 Park Kow, New York. 

''One and two are absolutely reliable and discreet. Number three 
is reliable, but not always discreet. These persons were indicated 
by Sir Koger Casement. In the United States sabotage can be car- 
ried out in every kind of factory for supplying munitions of war. 
Railway embankments and bridges must not be touched. Embassy 
must in no circumstances be compromised. Similar precautions must 
be taken in regard to Irish pro-German propaganda. 

The following telegram from Count von BerustorflF to the 
Foreign Ofhce in Berlin was sent in September, 191G: 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 41. 5 

"September 15: With reference to report A.N. two hundred and 
sixty-six of May 10, 1916. The embargo conference, in regard to 
whose earlier fruitful cooperation Doctor Hale can give informa- 
tion, is just about to enter a vigorous campaign to secure a majority 
in both houses of Congress favorable to Germany and requests further 
support. There is no possibility of our being compromised. Request 
telegraphic reply." 

The publication of these letters in September and. October, 
making known the activity of German agents in our country, 
was most timely, for on Octol)er 1 the great drive for the Sec- 
ond Liberty Loan of $3,000,000,000 began. Again every 
means the wit of man could devise was used to arouse the 
people. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, boy scouts and 
school children took part in the sale. Subscriptions could be 
made at the office of any financial institution, broker, insur- 
ance company, department store, at booths in the streets, at 
home, in the liotels, in the clubs, in the training camps. In the 
cities the fences and shop windows were gay with posters; 
automobiles, taxicabs, trucks and wagons bore little placards 
urging every one to "Buy a Bond." The postage stamp on 
every letter was canceled with the words, ''Buy Now, U. S. 
Government Bonds, 2nd Liberty Loan." Former President 
Taft, Secretary McAdoo, former Secretary of State Bryan, 
members of the Cabinet, men prominent in public life traversed 
the country in a nation-wide speaking campaign to impress on 
the people the necessity of buying a bond at once. A laundry 
company inserted in each bundle before it was sent home a 
printed slip which read, "Buy Liberty Bonds to-day, because 
if the Kai.ser wins, good night shirt." In New York a Ger- 
man U-boat, captured by the British and sent over, was placed 
in Central Park, named "U-Buy a Bond" and became an oflfice 
for the receipt of subscriptions. 

The bonds were to bear an annual interest of four per cent., 
were to mature at the end of twenty-five years, or in 1942, but 
might be redeemed at any time after ten years. There were 
three ways of subscribing. They might be paid for in full at 
the time of subscription, in wliich case, if the subscription was 
not large, the bonds were delivered. They might be bought on 
the Government plan: two per cent, when the subscription was 



416 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

made; eighteen per cent, on T^ovember 15; forty per cent, on 
December 15, 1917, and a like amount on January 15, 1918. 
They might be paid for in installments of a dollar a week or so 
much a month. This was a plan used by banks and trust com- 
panies and by great corporations for their employees. 

On the first day of the campaign bonds to the amount of 
$50,000,000 were taken. Expecting that the $3,000,000,000 
offered would be oversubscribed, the Secretary had announced 
that half the oversubscription would be taken; but he now 
asked for offers up to $5,000,000,000 that >at least as much as 
$4,000,000,000 might be obtained, and this enormous sum, 
$5,000,000,000, became the goal which the workers sought to 
reach under an extension of time to November 1. 

When ten days had passed and the subscriptions, great as 
they were, fell short of what they should have been, the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury made an appeal in the form of a state- 
ment. After making due allowance, he said, for unreported 
amounts the fact remained that if the $5,000,000,000 was to be 
obtained in the twenty-four working days which remained up 
to the first of ISTovember the daily average must be $208,- 
000,000, whereas it had been but $36,000,000. To the first 
Liberty Loan there had been in round numbers some 5,000,000 
subscribers. Better organization which now existed, and the 
large amount of educational work which had been done ought 
to bring subscriptions from 10,000,000 persons and corpora- 
tions. "Shall we be more tender with our dollars than with 
the lives of our sons ?" said the Secretary on another occa- 
sion. 

On Saturday, October 27, at midnight, subscriptions ceased. 
On ISTovember 7 the Secretary of the Treasury announced up- 
wards of 9,400,000 subscribers had offered to take bonds to 
the amount of $4,617,532,300, an oversubscription of 54 per 
cent. This was $1,617,532,300 more than the Secretary had 
agreed to take. Why not, he asked, take all that was offered? 
Because, was his answer, the Government must never change 
the basis of subscription after the subscription is closed. Hav- 
ing offered to take one-half of all above $3,000,000,000 his 
agreement must be kept, and $3,808,766,150 was accepted. 

The drive for the Liberty Loan was hardly under way when, 



GERMAN INTRIGUE 417 

October 6, Congress closed its memorable session. Never be- 
fore had a Congress dealt with war issues of such magnitude 
or enacted laws of such far-reaching consequences. The pas- 
sage on April 6 of the joint resolution declaring a state of war 
with Germany to exist was followed before the month ended 
by the first Liberty Loan act, and the act increasing the num- 
ber of midshipmen at the N^aval Academy. In May came acts 
authorizing the Allied Governments to recruit from their 
peoples in our country; authorizing the President to take over 
enemy vessels in our ports; providing for the drafting of the 
IsTational Army and increasing the streugfh of the active list 
of the navy from 87,000 to 150,000 and of the Marine Corps 
from 17,400 to 30,000. In June came the war appropriations 
act providing $3,281,094,541 for the needs of the army and 
navy, a sum greater than the N^ational debt at the end of the 
Civil War; and the Espionage Act. The Aviation Act carry- 
ing an appropriation of $640,000,000 was enacted in July; the 
priority in Shipments Act, the Food Survey Act and the Food 
Control Act in August ; the Second Liberty Loan Act in Sep- 
tember; and on the last days of the session the Revenue Act, 
imposing war taxes on incomes and excess profits ; the Trading 
with the Enemy Act, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Insurance Act, 
and the Urgent Deficiency Act carrying the enormous appro- 
priation of $5,356,666,016.93. During the first session of the 
65th Congress the total of appropriations was $18,879,177,- 
014.96, of which $7,000,000,000 was to meet loans to the 
Allies, to be repaid by the Governments to which the advances 
were made. To this should be added $2,511,553,928.50 con- 
tract authorizations, making a total of $21,390,730,940.46. 



CHAPTER XVI 



RATIONING AND FIGHTING 



These acts having been approved by the President, steps 
to put them in force were promptly taken. By one proclama- 
tion ]^ovember 1 was named as the day whereon, under the 
provisions of the Food-Control Act, cold storage warehouse own- 
ers, operators of grain elevators, warehouses, and other places 
for storing grain, and sellers of a long list of food products 
whose gross sales exceeded $100,000 a year must obtain licenses 
to carry on their business. By another the provisions of the 
Trading-with-the-Enemy Act were put in force and the War 
Trade Board, the War Trade Council, and the Censorship 
Board to control all communication between the United States 
and foreign countries by cables, telegraph or mail were estab- 
lished. Under this Act a custodian was appointed to take care 
of all property in the United States owned by enemies, or allies 
of enemies. Each enemy or ally of an enemy doing business in 
the United States was required to obtain a license to continue 
in business; citizens of the United States were forbidden to 
trade without a license with any person there was reason to 
believe was an enemy or an ally of an enemy ; and every news- 
paper printed in a foreigTi language must furnish to the Post- 
master General English translations of all it printed concern- 
ing the war, unless a license not to do so was obtained. 

The provision touching newspapers the Postmaster General 
at once put in force ; but assured them that none need fear sup- 
pression unless the bounds of fair criticism of the President, 
the Administration, the army, the navy, the conduct of the war 
were passed. He would, he said, take great care not to let 
criticism, personally or politically offensive to the Administra- 
tion, affect his action. But if newspapers attacked the motives 
of the Government and thereby encouraged insubordination 
they would be dealt with severely. They would not be allowed 

418 



RATIONING AND FIGHTING 419 

to say that Wall Street, or munition makers, or any other spe- 
cial interest controlled the Government. Publication of any- 
thing intended to hamper the prosecution of the war; cam- 
paigns against conscription, enlistment, sale of bonds, or col- 
lection of the revenue would not be tolerated. The policy of 
foreign language newspapers would be judged by past utter- 
ances, not by newly announced intentions. Copies of all such 
newspapers were on file in the Department and on the examina- 
tion of these files would depend their licenses. German lan- 
guage newspapers when not licensed must publish English 
translations. Socialist newspapers, unless they contained 
treasonable or seditious matter, would not be barred from the 
mails. Jn a few weeks The Call, a Socialist journal published 
in ]SJ^ew York, was deprived of its second-class mail privileges. 

A third proclamation put all bakeries in the country under 
license, and a fourth shut out alien enemies from the District of 
Columbia and the Panama Zone. They were forbidden to 
ascend into the air in a balloon, airplane, airship or flying 
machine; were required to register; were ordered not to come 
within one hundred yards of any wharf, pier or dry dock used 
by any vessel of over five hundred tons engaged in the foreign 
or domestic trade, nor within one hundred yards of any ware- 
house shed, elevator, railroad terminal operated in connection 
with such wharf, or pier, and, save on public ferries, were 
warned not to be found on any ocean, bay, river, or other 
waters within three miles of the shore line of the United States 
or its possessions, nor on any of the Great Lakes, their con- 
necting waters or harbors. In a little while placards were 
posted along the water fronts of the seaboard cities giving 
notice in English and German to alien enemies not to go within 
one hundred yards of the river front, and calling on ail good 
citizens to notify the United States Marshal of any violation 
of the warning. 

The President forbade, after ISTovember 15, and during the 
war with Germany, the manufacture, distribution, storage, 
use or possession of explosives or their ingredients save as pro- 
vided by the Act of October 6, 1917. The Food Administrator 
announced that on and after November 1 no retailer or other 
dealer who put excessive prices on necessary foods should obtain 



420 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

supplies, and that no wholesaler or other handler of food would 
he allowed to sell to any retailer anywhere in our country who 
made unreasonahle profits or bought lar^e quantities of food 
for speculative purposes. Speculation in butter and eggs was 
ordered to be stopped on the exchanges until after the war, and 
the price of sugar was fixed, for many causes, all produced by 
the war, had produced a shortage. The nation-wide caiming 
of fruits in the summer and fall had greatly increased con- 
sumption. Hundreds of thousands of tons of sugar were shut 
up in Java for want of vessids to carry it away. At least a 
third of the world's production came from the Central Powers 
of Europe and had been cut otV since the war began ; the western 
battlefront passing through the sugar producing territory of 
Belgium and France had reduced the supply still further, and 
had forced England and Erance to compete with us for the 
cane sugar of C-uba. When the shortage became known to the 
people a rush on the retail grocery stores in the eastern cities 
followed and sugar rose to twenty cents a pound. 

Sugar was the first article in which the people experienced 
a shortage. Coal soon followed. As early as May, 1917, the 
Council for l)cf(>nse appointed a connnittee on coal production 
which called a meeting of some four hundred operators who, 
through a committee, finally fixed the price of coal at three 
dollars a ton for the region east of Pittsburgh and at two dollars 
and three-quarters to the west of that city. This the Secretary 
of War, as Chairman of the Council of Defense, repudiated 
as oppressive and until late in August the price of coal was un- 
regulated; consumers put oft" buying, and orders for millions of 
tons were canceled and little coal was moved. In August the 
President appointed Mr. Garfield coal administrator, and late 
in Septend)er by his order the price of coal was fixed at two 
dollars a ton. Then orders for coal, increasing in volume as the 
cold weather approached, came pouring in ; but the shortage of 
cars and the congestion of freight at the terminals, held there 
for want of ships to take it abroad, greatly hindered the move- 
ment of coal from the mines to the consumer, and by Janu- 
ary 1 the situation, especially in New England, was serious. 

Meantime, in December, the Government took over all the 
railroads and the President appointed the Secretary of the 



RATIONING AND FIGHTING 421 

Treasury Director General. By his order some 1,500 cars of 
coal between llarrisburg and New York were diverted and sent 
northeastward. Finding that the labor shortage near New 
York made it impossible to unload hundreds of cars on the 
New Jersey side of the Hudson Iliver, the Mayor of New York 
was asked to use the street cleaners for the task and charge the 
cost to the railroads, and coal was sent through the Hudson 
River tunnel of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Shipping 
Board released five ships at Hampton Roads to carry coal to 
New England, and at the Boston Navy Yard the commandant 
was authorized to give scraps of timber and waste wood to 
the poor. To relieve the congestion and so make way for food 
and fuel export traffic was ordered to southern ports, and pas- 
senger trains were annulled by hundreds that their locomotives 
might be used for other purposes, for the congestion, it was 
claimed, was caused by the overwhelming amount of freight 
due to war industries. To make matters worse intensely cold 
weather almost put a stop to coal mining. In Philadelphia the 
use of gas for warming homes was so great that the United 
Gas Improvement Company issued a warning. It might, tem- 
porarily, be unable to meet the gi'eat increase in consumption 
''due to cold weather and the shortage of the domestic coal 
supply." There was danger of some burners going out when 
the demand for gas was heaviest and the gas coming on again 
later. Consumers must not go to sleep with any gas burning 
nor keep a burner lighte<l unless some one was in the room. 
Such was the suffering that hundreds of people unable to get 
coal any other way stormed the yards of dealers who had any 
and emptied cars standing on the tracks. Churches were urged 
to consolidate; threats were made to close theaters and motion 
picture houses, and the Director of Supplies was forced to 
seize three carloads of coal for the use of fire and police sta- 
tions. Office buildings were required to use no steam for heat- 
ing between seven o'clock in the evening and seven in the 
morning; and none on Sundays and holidays save enough to 
keep water pipes from freezing ; electric lights in hallways and 
offices were ordered to be cut twenty-five per cent, all outside 
lighting discontinued and only enough used in show windows 
to protect property. So great was the shortage that, January 15, 



422 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

there were in the harbor of New York thirty-seven ships unable 
to sail for France for want of coal. At Indianapolis theaters, 
saloons and poolrooms were ordered closed until further notice. 
In Michigan, the State Fuel Administrator forbade churches 
to be heated more than six hours a week, or office buildings, 
stores and places of business more than nine hours each week- 
day, and closed theaters and motion picture houses on Mon- 
days and Tuesdays. In Chicago, where a heavy snow fall pre- 
vented coal coming in or empty cars going out, it was announced 
by the County Fuel Administrator that factories and indus- 
trial plants would have to shut down in five or six days if no re- 
lief came. 

Mr. Garfield, January 16, ordered that in the vast region 
east of the Mississippi, from Canada to the Gulf, every indus- 
trial plant, those making munitions included, should shut down 
from January 18 to 22, both days included, and that no fuel 
should be burned save for the manufacture of perishable foods, 
the printing of daily newspapers, the current numbers of maga- 
zines and periodicals. On ten consecutive Mondays, beginning 
January 28 and ending March 25, no fuel, save to prevent the 
freezing of water pipes, could be burned for the purpose of 
supplying heat for any business or professional offices, unless 
used by the United States, State, County or Municipal govern- 
ments, transportation companies, physicians, dentists, banks 
or trust companies ; nor for theaters, moving picture houses, 
bowling alleys, billiard rooms, dance halls or any place of 
amusement ; nor for stores, business houses or buildings except 
for the purpose of selling food, drugs and medical supplies. 
In food shops heat might be maintained until twelve o'clock 
noon, and in drug stores throughout the day and e^'ening. 
These restrictions, it was estimated, would save 30,000,000 tons 
of coal and bring the supply almost up to normal. 

Bitter opposition was at once aroused. The United States 
Senate adopted a resolution requesting Mr. Garfield to ^'delay 
for five days the order suspending the operation of industrial 
plants in portions of the United States in order that protests 
may be heard, investigation made and information presented." 
Jn the House a resolution expressing the "regret of the House" 
at the "summary action" and appealing to the President to 



RATIONING AND FIGHTING 429 

interfere was not acted on. Protests from all parts of the 
country affected came to Washington. Lithographers pro- 
tested to the Liberty Loan publicity bureau in the Treasury 
Department that the Third Liberty Loan compaign would 
suffer from the loss of working time on the posters. Theatri- 
cal men sent a committee to see the President. Motion picture 
men protested to members of Congress. Closing the "movies" 
in the great industrial centers would lead to disturbances be- 
cause thousands of idle workmen would have no amusements. 
In their behalf the order was changed. Some plants engaged 
in work for the army and navy were made exempt. 

During the five heatless days every effort was made to move 
coal. Empty cars were rushed to the mines. Long trains of 
full cars were hurried to the shipping ports and by January 22 
each of the thirty-seven ships in I^ew York Harbor had re- 
ceived its supply of fuel. Freight congestion was relieved, and 
that it might if possible be ended the Director General of Rail- 
roads laid an embargo on all new shipments of freight over 
the Pennsylvania and Reading System, over the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad east of the Ohio River, and over the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad east of Pittsburgh. Fuel, food and some war 
material were exempt from the embargo. 

The President on January 18 in a statement defended the 
action of Mr. Garfield. "This war," he said, "calls for many 
sacrifices, and sacrifices of the sort called for by this order are 
infinitely less than sacrifices of life which might otherwise be 
involved. It is absolutely necessary to get the ships away, it 
is absolutely necessary to relieve the congestion at the ports 
and upon the railways, it is absolutely necessary to move great 
quantities of food, and it is absolutely necessary that our people 
should be warm in their homes, if nowhere else, and halfway 
measures would not have accomplished the desired end." 

A series of snowstorms resulting in a fall of fourteen inches 
of snow at the end of January blocked all traffic on the coal 
roads of Pennsylvania, cut down the already insufficient supply 
to Philadelphia and forced the local coal administrator to seize 
some 12,000 tons destined for Florida and other places in order 
to relieve the suffering and sickness among the poor. Four 
hundred thousand tons of coal, it was reported, were in cars 



424 THE UNITED STATES IN THE .WORLD WAR 

held ice bound on the tracks. Some 6,000 coal cars were 
reported snow blocked between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh and 
men could not be obtained to set them free. Unable to move 
more than a few thousand tons of coal into Philadelphia each 
day, the Fuel Administrator ordered that none should be deliv- 
ered save to homes, hospitals, food stores and hotels. All other 
stores must do without even if they had to close. Early in 
February milder weather brought some relief, and by the tenth 
of the month record-breaking shipments were made to the West 
and the East, and by the thirteenth the only part of the coun- 
try suffering from a shortage of coal was ISTew England. Euel 
Administrator Garfield therefore on that day announced the 
suspension of the heatless Monday order, with a warning that 
it might be resumed ; but State administrators were authorized 
to continue it if they thought fit. 

While the fuel shortage was at .its height the Food Admin- 
istrator called for further conservation of wheat flour. In 
order, he said, that 100,000,000 bushels of wheat might be 
exported it was necessary to cut down consumption to thirty 
per cent, below normal. In his last cable Lord Rhondda said : 
"Unless you are able to send the Allies at least 75,000,000 
bushels of wheat over and above what you have exported up to 
January 1, and in addition to the exportable surplus from 
Canada, I cannot take the responsibility of assuring our people 
that there will be food enough to win the war. Imperative 
necessity compels me to cable you in this blunt way." "We have 
replied," said Mr. Hoover: "We will export every grain that 
the American j^eople save from their normal consumption. We 
believe our people will not fail to meet the emergency." But 
we must save more than the Allies needed. Belgium must have 
15,000,000 bushels or starve, and 10,000,000 bushels must go 
to Cuba and neutrals on whom we depend for food supplies. 
It was estimated that 30,000,000 bushels had been saved from 
the last harvest. We must, therefore, reduce wheat consump- 
tion to thirty per cent, below normal until next harvest. Beef 
must be cut to fifteen per cent, and pork twenty per cent, and 
sugar ten per cent. 

The Food Administrator accordingly ordered that begin- 
ning Monday, January 28, all licensed bakers must mix a 



RATIONING AND FIGHTING 425 

minimum of five per cent, of other cereals with flour in making 
Victory Bread and rolls, and increase the minimum to twenty 
per cent, on or before February 24. No city consumer should 
be sold more than twenty-four pounds, and no country con- 
sumer more than forty-eight pounds of wheat flour at one time, 
and to get any must buy at the same time some substitute flour 
equal to one-sixth the amount of wheat flour purchased. These 
substitutes were cornmeal, cornstarch, corn flour, rice, rice 
flour, oatmeal, rolled oats, hominy, barley flour, potato flour, 
bean flour, sweet potato flour, buckwheat flour, corn grits, and 
no others. Hotels, restaurants, and all public eating places 
were expected to observe meatless Mondays and Wednesdays, 
and one wheatless meal each day when nothing containing 
wheat should be used. A like observance was urged on all 
homes. To fix the prices of food was not in the power of the 
Administrator; but wholesale grocers who charged exorbitant 
prices had their licenses temporarily revoked and could not sell 
any of the twenty articles of food which could be sold only 
under license. 

Even this reduction was found not enough and March 23 
a further saving of wheat was ordered. Householders were not 
to use more than one and a half pcjunds of wheat products per 
person per week, which was a ration of one and three-quarters 
pounds of Victory Bread made with the proper proportion of 
wheat substitutes, and one-half pound of flour, macaroni, 
crackers, pastry, cakes, or wheat breakfast cereals separately 
or combined. Hotels, restaurants and public eating places, 
besides observing wheatless Monday's and Wednesdays, must 
not serve to any one guest, at any one meal, macaroni, bread- 
stuffs, crackers, pastry, pies, cake, or breakfast cereals con- 
taining in the aggregate more than two ounces of wheat flour, 
nor could they buy more than six pounds of wheat products 
for each ninety meals served. Retailers were forbidden to sell 
more than one-eighth of a barrel of flour to a to\\Ti customer, 
nor more than one-quarter to a country buyer, nor any at all 
unless an equal weight of substitutes was purchased. Bakers 
and grocers must cut down the amount of Victory Bread sold 
by delivery to three-quarter pound loaves where one pound 
loaves were formerly sold, and not buy more than seventy per 



i-'C ruK iNirKP sr.vns i\ iiii' \\im;ii> n\au 



cent. o( tho ;ivtM';ij:,i' uuMithlv auuMiiit luMijvlit in tlir t\>ur luoiitiis 
\n-\ov to (ho tirst ot" Maioli. Tho luiiiuiuiiii ol" substiinio llour 
having ri^iohoil twtMitv por oont. ou I'oluiiaiv L'l, was now ui 
crtnistHl to twontv-tlvo por I'ont., whioh must ho vawUcd by 
April 1 [. riio piu'poso ot' (ho oi\lor was (o ftnlnoi' tho oon- 
suniptivMi oi whoat (Kmu- a( loast tit'tv por rvwl. 

Spi'akini;' a l\*\v (lays lator to souu> sonom hiuulfoil hotol 
men gathorod at \\'ashingt»>n. Mi-, lloovi-r a^kt^l (ha( no whoat 
bo ustnl. Tho hist liarvost, ho saiil, was K'ss than ostiniatoil. 
Shipping ti'onbK*s hail oaust'd groator ch-hiy in toodin;'; tho Allios 
than was t'orosoon, and tho Argontino orop had not h»'on as 
hitgo, nor loaohi'd tho niatk(>t as soon, as was i'\{)tvtotl. Thoro- 
upon tho hotol nion plodgod thoni-^ol\i*s to dfop all whoat prod- 
liots from (hoir monns. 

^'early ton months had now passod sitU'i> onr ontrani'(> into 
tlio war. and our sailors and soldiors had alroaily bognn to do 
thoir part. Twouty-oight days aftor tho doohiration ol" war a 
lleet of destroy ors roaohod a Hrilish [hmI to aid in tlu> {^atrol ot" 
l^airopoan NvattM's, and sinoo that tinu> o\ir warships hail boon 
busy ilay and night oonvoying troo[>s. supplios and annnunition. 
Tho lossos had boon i'cw and slight. In Ootobor tho (\(,s;s;/i 
was torpodood in tho war /.ono and badly danuigt'd, but mado 
port. Ono man was killod and \\\o woundod. A tow days 
lator tlu> transport AnfiUcs was sunk and so\onty livos lost. 
'I'ho transport FinlanJ whon botni'ward bound from a Krouoh 
port oarly In Novombor was toi-ptHliuHl. but riMnriu'd to port. 
Nino mon lost thoir li\("s. Towards tho oloso o( tho month two 
Fnitod Statos di^stroyi'rs oa[Uurod a runanan U-boat wnd all its 
ormv. Hut tht> wator ooi'ks woi'o oponoil by tho ((ornuius and 
tho snbmarino sank whilo tho oaptors wt-ro towing it to {>ort. 
In A'ovombor tho patrol boat Alct\lo was torpodood and saidv. 
Ono i^tUoor and twiM\ty mon W(^r(> kilU>d ov drownod. Tho 
dostroyor (luuniccii whilo on patrol duty in tho war /.ono was 
sunk in ooUision with an nnnamod vossol on Novombor H> and 
twontv-(mo mon woro lost. IVn-ombor (> tho dostrtiyor Jacob 
<li>>us was torfiodood and sank almost immodiatelv, sixty-nino 
utHcers and mi-n woro loportcul missing. 

Most foi-tunatoly tho loss of lift> oooasiouod by tlu\st> tlisas- 
tors was in oaoli oaso oom[)ai-atividy small; but tlu> ilay was 



RATIONING AND FIGHTING 427 

near when a transport crowded with our soklicrs was attacked 
and sunk by an unseen U-boat and more than a hundred per- 
ished. Towards dusk one day in early February, as the Cunard 
liner Tuscania, carrying 2,179 American soldiers, was passing 
along the north coast of Jreland within sight of land she was 
struck amidship by a torpedo, but did not immediately sink. 
The troops on board were chiefly Xational Guardsmen from 
Michigan and Wisconsin, engineers, men belonging to three 
aero squadrons, parts of three regiments of infantry and For- 
estry Engineers recruited in Maine and the lumber districts 
of the Northwest. Two British destroyers from the convoy 
were promptly on the scene and by them and by trawlers the 
rescued were taken to Bancranna and Larnc. How many were 
lost has not been finally stated. By the end of a week 164 
bodies had been washed ashore on the coast of Scotland, and 
buried, and more were recovered as time passed. So far our 
warfare on the sea seemed but an unbroken record of disaster, 
for the great work tbe navy was doing convoying fleets laden 
with troops, ammunition and food for the Allies, and. it may be, 
sinking submarines and patrolling some parts of the coasts of 
Great Britain, were not made public for good and sufficient 
reasons. 

Before the first year of our war for democracy had rolled 
around the man power of the navy had been increased from 
4,792 oflicers and 102,.500 men to 20,000 officers and 329,300 
men; 1,27.5 vessels for every sort of service, mine sweeping, 
mine laying, transport, patrol, submarine chasing, had been 
put in commission; the German vessels in our ports when the 
war began — damaged, their engineers believed, beyond mend- 
ing for at least nine months — had been repaired in less than six 
and used to carry troops to France ; contracts had been let for 
949 new vessels, and Germany, ])ecause of our naval activity, 
had been forced to draw a war z(me around the Azore Islands. 

"The hostile Governments," her memorandum said, "are 
endeavoring by the intensification of the hunger blockage 
against neutral countries, to force out to sea neutral cargo 
space which is keeping in port and to press them into their 
service. 

"As hostile shipping and shipping sailing in hostile interest 



428 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

are being supplemented by violent measures, the German Gov- 
ernment, in its struggle against Great Britain's domination of 
violence, which tramj^les under foot all rights, especially those 
of smaller nations, finds itself forced to extend the field of 
operation of its submarines." 

Therefore, she established a barred zone around the Azores 
"which have become in military and economic respects impor- 
tant hostile bases of Atlantic navigation," and closed "a channel 
to Greece hitherto left open in the Mediterranean, as it has 
been used by the Venizelos Government, not so much for the 
supply of the Greek population with foodstuffs as for the trans- 
port of arms and ammunition." ^ The United States, a Ger- 
man Vice Admiral declared, had "established herself on the 
Azores and had constructed fortifications at Punta del Garda." 

On land the record of our little army in France has been 
most inspiring. The first shot from our men in the trenches 
was fired on October 27, 1917. A few weeks later the shell 
case was presented to the President as a fitting memento of the 
great event. • The first trench fighting occurred just before 
dawn on the morning of N^ovember 3, when a small detachment 
of Americans in a front line instruction salient were attacked 
by a superior force of Germans, and the salient cut off from 
the rest of the men by a heavy barrage. The fighting then be- 
came hand to hand and in the course of it three Americans 
were killed, five wounded and eleven taken prisoners. The 
dead were buried on the slope of a hill overlooking a little vil- 
lage somewhere in France, and the site a few months later was 
marked by a stone monument bearing the name and regiment 
of each of the dead, and the inscription: "Here lie the first 
soldiers of the great Republic of the United States who died on 
the soil of France for justice and liberty, ^November 3, 1917." 
Fifteen officers and men, the dead included, cited by the French 
General commanding the sector were, a few days later, deco- 

^The new barred zone was bounded thus: "From 39 degrees north 
latitude and 17 west longitude, to 44 degrees north latitude and 27 degrees 
45 minutes west longitude, to 44 north latitude and 34 west longitude, 
to 42 degrees 30 minues north latitude and 37 west longitude, to 37 north 
latitude and 37 west longitude, to 30 north latitude and 26 west longitude, 
to 34 north latitude and 20 west longitude, and thence back to the start- 
ing point."' 



RATIONING AND FIGHTING 429 

rated with the French War Cross. When presenting the 
decorations the General said : 

'On the night of November 2-3, this company, which was 
in the line for the first time, met an extremely violent bom- 
bardment despite which it seized arms and offered such stub- 
born resistance that the enemy, though numerically superior, 
was obliged to retire." - 

A graphic picture of the prisoners is given by a German 
correspondent of a Berlin newspaper: 

"There they stood before us — these young men from the 
land of liberty. They were sturdy and sportsmanlike in build. 
Good-natured smiles radiated from their blue eyes, and they 
are quite surprised that we did not propose to shoot them down, 
as they had been led in the French training camp to believe we 
would do. 

"They know no reply to our query, 'Why does the United 
States carry on war against Germany V The sinking of Ameri- 
can shij)s by U-boats, which was the favorite pretext, sounds a 
trifle stale. One prisoner expressed the opinion that we had 
treated Belgium rather badly. Another asserted that it was 
Lafayette who brought America French aid in the war of inde- 
pendence, and because of this the United States would now 
stand by France." 

ISTovember 30, when the Germans attacked west of Cambrai, 
American army engineers working on the British railways 
were caught in the turning movement, lay in shell holes while 
the British fired over them, and when the Germans were pushed 
back took arms and joined in the fight. "We must," says the 
French communication, "remark on the conduct of certain 
American soldiers, pioneers and workmen on the military rail- 
road in the sector of the German attack west of Cambrai on 
November 30. They exchanged their picks and shovels for 
rifles and cartridges and fought beside the English. Many 
died thus bravely, arms in hand, before the invader. All helped 
to repulse the enemy. There is not a single person who saw 
them at work who does not render warm praise to the coolness, 
discipline and courage of these improvised combatants." 

* Those killed were Corporal James D. Greshain, Evansville, Indiana; 
Private Thomas F. Enright, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Private Merle 
D. Hay, Glidden, Iowa. 



430 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Towards the end of January the War Department permit- 
ted it to be known that our troops were occupying front line 
trenches in a certain sector, hut did not state where. A corre- 
spondent of the Associated Press in February announced that 
the sector was northwest of Toul on the south side of the 
St. Mihiel salient. A writer in the Paris Temps described the 
place as in the Woevre region. It was, he said, a low plain shut 
in l)y the highlands of the TMeuse, and the hills of the Moselle, 
covered at that season of the year by swamps and pools, imprac- 
ticable for the movements of troops and most suitable for the 
Americans to learn by experience from limited daily actions. 
One such action occurred on the night of February 9 when a 
patrol was ambushed in ISTo INlan's Land by a superior force 
of the enemy who cried "Kamerad" and then opened fire and 
cut to pieces the patrol. 

And now attack followed attack in rapid succession. Feb- 
ruary 14, east of Rheims in the Champagne, American troops 
took part in a bombardment preparatory to a French attack on 
the German lines between Tahure and the Butte de Mesnil. On 
the following day our troops were bombarded .with gas shells, 
and on February 23 they took part with the French in a raid 
in the Chemin des Dames sector. Thus it became known that 
our men were on the front line in the St. Mihiel, Champag-ne 
and Chemin des Dames sectors. February 26 there was another 
gas attack in which some sixty Americans were injured before 
they could adjust their masks. A fight on March 1 showed a 
force of our men were near Chavignon, north of the western 
end of Chemin des Dames sector, and another on March 6 that 
they were east of Luneville in a sector in Lorraine. Our losses 
on land and sea, from the time the first contingent landed in 
France, as given out by the Department of War, March 15, were 
1,722. Of these 136 had been killed in action, 237 lost at sea, 
and 641 had died of disease; 475 had been wounded, 21 cap- 
tured, 14 were missing, 6 had been gassed, and 26 had died of 
wounds. A variety of causes accounted for the deaths of the 
others. 

Secretary of War Baker and a staff of seven, meanwhile, 
had quietly slipped away and reached France. He came, he 
told the French, to confer with General Pershing, visit the 



RATIONING AND FIGHTING 431 

American Expeditionary Force, inspect its lines of transporta- 
tion, storage and supply system, and learn how America could 
most eftectively supply her own army and those of her Allies. 

Support was badly needed, for on March 21, 1918, the Ger- 
mans began their great drive in Picardy. At five o'clock on 
the morning of that day a terrific bombardment of the British 
was begTin along a fifty-mile front stretching from southeast 
of Arras to La Fere, and the wonderful battle of Picardy 
opened. The story of the weeks of carnage that followed can- 
not be told. It is enough to remember that the attempt to drive 
a wedge between the French and British armies at their point 
of union failed; that the attempt to drive the British from 
Arras and Vimy Ridge failed ; and that the attempt to over- 
whelm the British army in Flanders and reach the Channel 
ports was checked. 

As the battle raged and the Allied armies were forced 
westward and southward day by day our troops began to play 
their part. March 25, when the British had been driven west 
of Baj^aume, Peronne and Ham, General Pershing reported 
that in this desperate fighting three companies belonging to two 
regiments of American engineers had been engaged. A Ger- 
man War Ofiice statement gave the locality as Chauny and the 
Crozat Canal. Busy with Canadians and under Canadian 
command in construction work back of the lines, they became 
fighting men as the Germans came on, took their place in the 
line and, though forced to fall back, fought bravely until some 
place near N^oyon was reached where they were given time to 
rest and reequip. By March 28 the Germans had taken Albert 
and Montdidier, and on that day General Pershing called on 
General Foch at headquarters and ofi^ered him all the American 
troops in France. The American people, he was reported by a 
Paris newspaper to have said, would consider it a great honor 
if their troops were engaged in the present battle, the greatest 
battle in history. He came to ask it in the name of the Ameri- 
can people. Infantry, artillery, aviation, all that we had was 
at the disposal of General Foch to do with as he would. Sec- 
retary Baker, then at American headquarters in France, de- 
clared he was delighted at General Pershing's prompt and 
eifective action. General Foch placed the offer before the 



432 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

French War Council at the front, and March 31 an official note 
announced that the American troops would fight side by side 
with British and French troops and that ''the Star Spangled 
Banner will float beside the French and English flags in the 
plains of Picardy." 

On the evening of March 27 at a dinner given at the Lotos 
Club in New York City, Lord Reading, British High Commis- 
sioner to the United States, read an appeal to the people of our 
country from the Prime Minister, Lloyd George. 

"We are at the crisis of the war, attacked by an immense 
superiority of German troops," said the Premier in his mes- 
sage. "Our army has been forced to retire. The retirement 
has been carried out methodically before the pressure of a 
steady succession of fresh German reserves, which are suffer- 
ing enormous losses. 

"The situation is being faced with splendid courage and 
resolution. The dogged pluck of our troops has for the moment 
checked the ceaseless onrush of the enemy, and the French have 
now joined in the struggle. But this battle, the greatest and 
most momentous in the history of the world, is only just begin- 
ning. Throughout it the French and British are buoyed with 
the knowledge that the great Republic of the West will neglect 
no effort which can hasten its troops and its ships to Europe. 

"In war, time is vital. It is impossible to exaggerate the 
importance of getting American reenforcements across the 
Atlantic in the shortest possible space of time." 

The appeal was heard and for many weeks to come thou- 
sands on thousands of our men were rushed across the ocean 
and by early May 500,000 were in France. 



CHAPTER XVII 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 



Abroad, as the autumn of 1917 drew to a close, the tide 
of war set strongly against the Allies. Great victories had, 
indeed, been won by the French in October along a seven-mile 
front near Soissons and the enemy forced to give up his hold 
on the Chemin des Dames. (In Flanders in November, after 
weeks of desperate fighting, the British gained possession of the 
Passchendaele Ridge, broke the Hindenburg line along a thirty- 
two mile front from St. Quentin to the river Scarpe, and pene- 
trated the German defenses for a depth of more than six 
miles to the outskirts of Cambrai, and were then forced to yield 
much of the ground so gallantly won. In December the Allied 
and neutral Christian world heard with delight that Jerusalem 
was in British hands. But elsewhere matters had gone badly. 
The army of Italy had suffered a severe defeat, and Russia 
had abandoned the Allies. 

The Italian front in October stretched from the Gulf of 
Trieste northward to the Julian Alps and westward through 
the Carnic Alps. But October 23 the Austro-German army 
opened an attack on the front in the Julian Alps, broke 
through and forced back the whole eastern front from the 
Carnic Alps to the shores of the Adriatic. ISTovember 2 the 
pursuing Austro-Germans reached the Tagliamento River; 
November 8 they crossed the Livenza River, and November 13 
were on the western bank of the Piave. There the retreat 
ended and there, when the year closed, the enemy was still held. 
In Russia the radical Socialists, the Bolsheviki or Maximalists, 
November 7, overthrew the Provisional Government and put 
the peasants and workinginen in control. Premier Kerensky 
fled and the Workingmen's and Soldiers' Congi-ess adopted 
resolutions declaring for "an immediate peace, without annexa- 
tion and without indemnities" ; proclaimed ''its decision to sign 

433 



434 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

peace terms which will briug this war to an end" on the basis 
of no annexations, no indemnities, and summoned all belliger- 
ents to do the same. ISTovember 20 the Council of "The 
People's Commissaries," with Lcnine as President, Trotsky 
Commissary of Foreign Affairs, and Krylenko of War, an- 
nounced that by order of the All Russian Workmen's and Sol- 
diers' Congress the Council of The People's Commissaries had 
assumed power and that they were in duty bound "to offer all 
peoples and their respective Governments an immediate armis- 
tice on all fronts for the purpose of opening negotiations imme- 
diately for the conclusion of a democratic peace." A formal 
offer of an armistice would therefore be sent without delay 
"to all the belligerents, enemy and ally." The "citizen com- 
mander-in-chief" was then ordered "to approach the com- 
manding authorities of the enemy armies with an offer of a 
cessation of hostile activities for the purpose of opening peace 
pourparlers." 

To this order General Dukhonin, Commander-in-Chief, made 
no reply, was promptly deprived of command and a fortnight 
later was thrown from a moving train and killed. 

"What," said a representative of the Associated Press to 
Trotsky, "are the plans and intentions of your Government?" 
"An immediate publication," was the reply, "of all secret 
treaties and the abolition of all secret diplomacy; an offer of 
an immediate armistice on all fronts for the conclusion of a 
democratic peace ; transfer of all lands to the peasants ; State 
control of all industries; delivery of all authority to local 
Soldiers' and Workingmen's deputies; the meeting of a con- 
stituent assembly. The offer of a peace has already been made ; 
the decree transferring the land to the peasants has already 
been issued; authority has already been assumed by Soldiers' 
and Workingmen's deputies in many important places." 

"What," he was asked, "will Russia do if her allies refuse 
to enter into negotiations for peace ?" "The allied people will 
support us against their Governments," was the answer. "Does 
Russia think a separate peace with Germany is possible?" he 
was asked, and replied, "We are against a separate peace with 
Germany, we are for uliiversal peace with all the European 
nations." "What will the Government do if Germany refuses 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 435 

to negotiate, will it continue tlie war ?" "We rely on the Ger- 
man army and the working classes to make a continuation of 
the war impossibje." 

The Russian Ambassador at Washington at once repudiated 
the Bolshevist Government and announced his intention to go 
on with his duties until the United States Government recog- 
nized a successor. Mr. Lansing made no statement of the 
views of the Administration. 

All Russia was now in ferment and turmoil. But that 
made no difference to the Bolshevist Government, and Decem- 
ber 1 peace delegates appeared before the German front, were 
blindfolded and escorted to von Hotfmeister, Divisional Com- 
mander, who, under authority from his Chief, agreed that nego- 
tiations for an armistice should be opened at Brest-Litovsk 
headquarters of the German Commander on December 2. At 
that conference a suspension of hostilities, for a period of ten 
days, along the entire front from the Baltic to the Black Sea 
was concluded and went into effect on the eighth. The time 
was to be used to arrange an armistice which was to be imme- 
diately followed by negotiations for peace. 

Trotsky now called on the embassies and legations of the 
Allies in Petrograd to define, within one week, the attitude 
of their Governments "towards the peace negotiations," and state 
their willingness or refusal to join in negotiations for an armis- 
tice and peace. In case of their "refusal they must declare 
clearly and finally before all mankind the aims for which the 
peoples of Europe may be called to shed their blood during the 
fourth year of the war." 

President Wilson had just done so for the United States. 
Congress had assembled on the third of December and on the 
fourth he made his annual address. He believed that he spoke 
for the American people when he said two things : "First, that 
this intolerable Thing of which the masters of Germany have 
shown us the ugly face, this menace of combined intrigue and 
force which we now see so clearly as the German power, a 
Thing without conscience or honor or capacity for covenanted 
peace, must be crushed and, if it be not utterly brought to an 
end, at least shut out from the friendly intercourse of the 
nations; and, second, that when this Thing and its power are 



436 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

indeed defeated and the time comes that we can discuss peace 
— when the German people have spokesmen whose word we 
can believe and when those spokesmen are ready in the name 
of their people to accept the common judgment of the nations as 
to what shall henceforth be the basis of law and of covenant for 
the life of the world, we shall be willing and glad to pay the 
full pi'ice for peace, and pay it ungrudgingly. We know what 
that price will bo. It will be full, impartial justice done at 
every point and to every nation that the final settlement must 
affect, our enemies as well as our friends. 

*'You catch, with me, the voices of humanity that are in 
the air. They grow daily more audible, more articulate, more 
persuasive, and they come from the hearts of men everywhere. 
They insist that the war shall not end in vindictive action 
of any kind; that no nation or people shall be robbed or pun- 
ished because the irresponsible rulers of a single country have 
themselves done deep and abominable wrong. It is this thought 
that has been expressed in the formula, 'ISTo annexations, no 
contributions, no punitive indemnities.' 

"Just because this crude formula expresses the instinctive 
judgment as to the right of plain men everywhere it has been 
made diligent use of by the masters of German intrigue to lead 
the people of Russia astray, and the people of every other 
country their agents could reach, in order that a premature 
peace might be brought about before autocracy has been taught 
its final and convincing lesson and the people of the world put 
in control of their own destinies. 

"Let there be no misunderstanding. Our present and 
immediate task is to win the war and nothing shall turn us 
aside from it until it is accomplished. Every power and re- 
source we possess, whether of men, of money, or materials, 
is being devoted and will continue to be devoted to that pur- 
pose until it is achieved. . . . We shall regard the war as won 
only when the German people say to us, through properly 
accredited representatives, that the7 are ready to agree to a 
settlement based upon justice and the reparation of the wrongs 
their rulers have done. 

"They have done a wrong to Belgium which must be re- 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 437 

paired. They have established a power over other lands and 
peoples than their own, over the great empire of Austria- 
Hungary, over hitherto free Balkan States, over Turkey and 
within Asia, which must be relinquished. 

"The peace we make must remedy that wrong. It must 
deliver the once fair lands and happy peoples of Belgium and 
N'orthern France from the Prussian conquest and the Prus- 
sian menace, but it must also deliver the peoples of Austria- 
Hungary, alike in Europe and in Asia, from the impudent and 
alien domination of the Prussian military and commercial 
autocracy. 

"We owe it, however, to ourselves to say that we do not 
wish in any way to impair or to rearrange the Austro- 
Hungarian empire. It is no affair of ours what they do with 
their own life, either industrially or politically. We do not 
purpose or desire to dictate to them in any way. We only 
desire to see that their affairs are left in their own hands, in 
all matters, great or small. We shall hope to secure for the 
peoples of the Balkan peninsula and for the people of the 
Turkish empire the right and opportunity to make their own 
lives safe, their own fortunes secure against oppression or in- 
justice and from the dictation of foreign courts or parties. 

"And our attitude and purpose with regard to Germany 
herself are of a like kind. We intend no wrong against the 
German empire, no interference with her internal affairs. We 
should deem either the one or the other absolutely unjustifiable, 
absolutely contrary to the principles we have professed to live 
by and to hold most sacred throughout our life as a nation. 

"What shall we do, then, to push this great war of free- 
dom and justice to its righteous conclusion? We must clear 
away with a thorough hand all impediments to success and we 
must make every adjustment of law that will facilitate the full 
and free use of our whole capacity and force as a fighting unit. 

"One very embarrassing obstacle that stands in our way is 
that we are at war with Germany, but not with her allies. I 
therefore very earnestly recommend that the Congress imme- 
diately declare the United States in a state of war with Austria- 



438 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Hungary. Does it seem strange to you that this should be the 
conclusion of the argument I have just addressed to you ? It is 
not. It is, in fact, the inevitable logic of what I have said. 
Austria-Hungary is for the time being not her own mistress, 
but simply the vassal of the German Government. We must 
face the facts as they are and act upon them without sentiment 
in this stern business. The Government of Austria-Hungary 
is not acting upon its own initiative or in response to the wishes 
and feelings of its own peoples, but as the instrument of 
another nation. We must meet its force with our own and 
regard the Central Powers as but one. The war can be suc- 
cessfully conducted in no other way. The same logic would 
lead also to a declaration of war against Turkey and Bulgaria. 
They also are the tools of Germany. But they are mere tools 
and do not yet stand in the direct path of our necessary action. 
We shall go wherever the necessities of this war carry us, but 
it seems to me that we should go only where immediate and 
practical considerations lead us and not heed any others." 

Joint resolutions declaring that a state of war existed be- 
tween the United States and the Imperial and Royal Austro- 
Hungarian Government were introduced in both the Senate and 
House and sent to the appropriate committees. That in the 
House was unanimously reported by the Committee on For- 
eign Affairs, accompanied by a long report setting forth all the 
reasons why the resolution should be adopted. 

A state of war, it said, had actually existed for many 
months. Depredations on American lives and rights by Aus- 
trian naval forces had been small compared with those by Ger- 
many, but they had been enough to constitute war upon this 
country and, taken with other acts of Austria-Hungary, had 
brought the American people to realize that she must be 
grouped with Germany as an enemy. 

As far back as 1915 Ambassador Dumba and Austrian 
consuls in St. Louis and elsewhere had instigated strikes in 
manufacturing plants engaged in making munitions ; an Ameri- 
can citizen protected by an American passport had been used 
by Dumba as a bearer of official dispatches, and Austrian con- 
suls at St. Louis and New York had procured false passports 
for the use of their countrymen going home. Austria-Hungary 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 439 

in a note of January 31, 1917, had officially announced her 
intention to adopt the ruthless submarine policy begun by Ger- 
many, and had notified the Government of the United States 
before war with Germany was declared to exist that if such 
a declaration were made Austria-Hungary would sever diplo- 
matic relations. N^o sooner was the declaration made than, true 
to this threat, Austria-Hungary, as an ally of Germany, broke 
off diplomatic relations with the United States. 

Until the recent Austro-German drive in Italy, the forces 
of Austria were gradually driven back by the Army of Italy. 
With the aid of German troops drawn from the Russian front, 
a serious disaster had been inflicted on Italy, which had it not 
been stemmed might have ended in her collapse. Because of 
this situation the Allies had rushed aid to Italy, and the United 
States was sending ships, money and supplies and might soon 
send troops who would then be facing and making war on 
Austrian soldiers. 

Because of these facts a declaration of war should be made. 
Jt would hearten the people of Italy, misled by German propa- 
ganda, and from a military point of view would strengthen 
the whole allied cause. 

December 7 the Senate passed the resolution unani- 
mously and sent it at once to the House where, to save time, 
it was substituted for that of the House, was passed by a vote 
of 363 to 1, and about five o'clock on the same day was signed 
by the President. 

Why war was not declared on Turkey and Bulgaria was 
explained by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs. A deal of friction existed, he said, between the Turks 
and the Germans. Even the pro-war party was split into fac- 
tions, and that headed by Talaat Bey was beginning to look 
with suspicion on Germany. A declaration of war, unless we 
could strike Turkey, would strengthen the weakening German 
influence and injure the anti-German party. But we could 
not strike Turkey, for she had no troops on the western front 
and few submarines. There was no danger therefore of a 
direct conflict of forces. Bulgaria had not severed diplomatic 
relations with the United States, had no interest in the Ger- 
man plans of world conquest, had always been friendly to the 



410 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

United States, had no submarines in the sea and no forces on 
the western front, and there was therefore no good reason to 
wage war against her. 

The ten-day period of suspension of hostilities having ex- 
pired, an armistice was signed by the representatives of Russia 
on the one hand and those of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Tur- 
key and Bulgaria on the other, to begin at two o'clock on the 
afternoon of December 17 and continue until January 14, and 
inchide the land and air forces along the front from the Baltic 
to the Black Sea, and along the Ilusso-Turkish front in Asia 
Minor. While it lasted neither party was to increase its forces 
on these fronts, nor on the islands in Moon Sound. ^Neither 
party was to regroup its forces, nor move units from the Baltic- 
Black sea fronts except such as had begun to move before the 
armistice was established, nor gather troops on any part of 
the Black Sea or the Baltic east of the fifteenth degree of east 
longitude. Either party might end the armistice on seven 
days' notice to the other. Peace negotiations were to begin 
at once. 

On the afternoon of December 22 accordingly at a solemn 
sitting of the delegates peace negotiations were begun. At the 
head of the German delegation was Dr. Richard von Kiilil- 
mann; Count Czernin headed that from Austria-Hungary; 
Minister Popoff that from Bulgaria; Nessimy Bey, one time 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, that of Turkey, and Joffe 
Kamineff that of Russia. Dr. von Kiihlmann, who presided, 
having invited the Russians to present their proposal for a 
basis of peace, it was laid before the delegates under six heads, 
and these six were : no forcible appropriation of any territories 
taken in the course of the war ; full independence for those na- 
tionalities which had been deprived of it before the war began ; 
nationalities which were not independent when the war began 
to decide by referendum whether they would unite with other 
nations, or acquire independence, and in countries inhabited 
by several nationalities the rights of minorities to be safe- 
guarded by special provisions ; no war indemnity ; all requisi- 
tions to be returned and war sufferers compensated out of a 
fund levied on all belligerents in proportion to their resources. 
Colonial questions to be in accordance with these conditions. 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 441 

Count Czernin, speaking for the quadruple alliance, Decem- 
ber 25, said the Russian proposals formed a discussable basis 
for peace. The delegates of the quadruple alliance were ready 
for peace without annexations and without indemnity. ''It 
must, however, be expressly pointed out that all the Powers now 
participating in the war must within a suitable time, without 
ex-ception and without any reserve, bind themselves to the most 
precise adherence to conditions binding all nations in the same 
manner, if the stipulations of the Russian expose are to be ful- 
filled, for it would not do for the Powers of the quadruple 
alliance negotiating with Russia one-sidedly to tie themselves 
to these conditions without a guarantee that Russia's allies will 
recognize and will carry out these conditions honestly and with- 
out reserve as regards the quadruple alliance." 

Passing in review the six points of the Russian peace basis. 
Count Czernin said it was not the intention of the allied Gov- 
ernments "to appropriate forcibly" territory they then held, 
nor was it their intention "to rob of its independence" any of 
the nations which in the course of the war had lost it. Alle- 
giance of national groups wdiicli had no independence could not 
be regulated as between States, but must be settled by every 
State with its people. Protection of the rights of minorities 
was an essential part of the right of peoples to self-determina- 
tion. The allied Powers had often said that both sides could 
renounce indemnification for war costs and for war damages. 
The creation of a special fund could only be considered if the 
other belligerent Powers within a suitable period joined in the 
peace negotiations. 

Return of colonies forcibly occupied and captured was 
"an essential part of the German demands from which under 
no circumstances could she depart." 

The Russians thought ten days a suitable period within 
which the Allies should express their willingness or refusals 
to join in peace negotiations, and the Germans having ap- 
proved, it was ordered to begin on December 26, 1917, and 
end January 4, 1918. 

This agreement reached, the discussion of matters that would 
have to be settled, in the event of peace, was begun. The 
Bolshevist delegates proposed that Russia withdraw her troops 



442 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

from Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Persia, and that the Central 
Powers withdraw theirs from Poland, Lithuania, and Courland. 
This was in accordance with the declaration by the Russian 
Government of the right of all people living in Russia to self- 
determination, including even separation. Populations in 
these districts were to be given an opportunity within the short- 
est possible time to decide whether they would join Russia, 
Germany, Austria, or be free. 

The Germans replied by presenting two articles of a pre- 
liminary treaty: 

"First. Russia and Germany are to declare the state of 
war at an end. Both nations are resolved to live together in the 
future in peace and friendship on condition of complete reci- 
procity. Germany will be ready as soon as peace is concluded 
with Russia and the demobilization of the Russian armies has 
been accomplished to evacuate her present positions in occupied 
Russian territory in so far as no different inferences result 
from Article II. 

"Second. The Russian Government, having in accordance 
with its principles proclaimed for all peoples without excep- 
tion living within the Russian empire the right of self-determi- 
nation, including complete separation, takes cognizance of the 
decisions expressing the will of people demanding a full state 
of independence and separation from the Russian empire for 
Poland, Lithuania, Courland and portions of Esthonia and 
Livonia. 

"The Russian Government recognizes that in the present 
circumstances these manifestations must be regarded as an 
expression of the will of the people, and is ready to draw con- 
clusions therefrom. As in those districts to which the fore- 
going stipulations apply the question of evacuation is not such 
as provided for in Article I, a special commission shall discuss 
and fix the time and other details in conformity and in accord- 
ance with the Russian idea of the necessary ratification by a 
plebiscite on broad lines, and without any military pressure 
whatever, of the already existing proclamation of separation." 

To this the Bolshevists answered: 

"0ur standpoint is that only such manifestation of will can 
be regarded as a de facto expression of the will of the people 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 443 

as results from a free vote taken in the districts in question 
with the complete absence of foreign troops. We therefore pro- 
pose, and must insist thereon, that a clearer and more precise 
formulation of this point be made. We consent, however, to 
the appointment of a special commission for the examination 
of technical conditions for the realization of such referendums 
and also for the fixing of a definite time for evacuation." 

December 28 provisional agreements were finally reached 
on many points with the reservation that they were to be ex- 
amined by the respective Governments. The delegates then 
went home. The agreements were that the war was to be 
declared at an end ; that Germany was to evacuate her posi- 
tions in occupied Russia as soon as the Russian armies had 
been demobilized ; that there should be no economic war after 
peace was concluded, and no discrimination against subjects, 
merchant ships or goods of either party ; that civilians interned 
were to be immediately released ; prisoners of war exchanged as 
soon as possible ; and no demands for damages suffered during 
the war. Many other issues were to bo arranged to suit the 
interests of Germany. 

January 4 the ten days allowed the Allies in which to say 
whether they would or would not take part in the peace negotia- 
tions ended. On that day the delegates of the Central Powers 
returned to Brest-Litovsk, and finding no Russian delegates 
there, von Kiihlmann, Count Czernin, M. Popoff and I^essimy 
Bey sent this wireless message to "Comrade" Joife, head of the 
Russian delegation: 

"In their reply to the proposals of the Russian delegation 
the delegations of the Central Powers outlined on December 25 
at Brest-Litovsk certain guiding principles for the conclusion 
of an immediate general peace. In order, however, to avoid any 
one-sided commitment, they expressly made the validity of these 
guiding principles dependent upon the obligation that all the 
Powers engaged in the war, without exception and without 
reserve, should within a suitable period bind- themselves strictly 
to observe these conditions which were equally binding upon 
all peoples. With the consent of the four allied delegations 
the Russian delegation then fixed the term of ten days within 
which the other belligerents should take cognizance of these 



444 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

principles for the conclusion of an immediate peace as laid 
down at Brest-Litovsk and decide whether they would join in 
the peace negotiations or not. The delegations of the allied 
Powers now place on record the fact that the ten days' term 
agreed upon lapsed on January 4, and that no declaration 
regarding participation in these peace negotiations has so far 
been received from any of the other belligerents." 

It was further announced that the failure of the Allies to 
notice the invitation to take part in the negotiations at Brest- 
Litovsk relieved the Central Powers from all obligations and 
left them free to conclude a separate peace with Russia, and 
that they were no longer bound by the general peace proposals 
submitted to the Russians. 

The Bolsheviki, meantime, requested that negotiations be 
transferred to Stockholm because they preferred a neutral place 
to the German headquarters, and because at Stockholm it would 
be easier to secure full publicity to all proceedings. Hearing 
that the delegates of the Central Powers were at Brest-Litovsk, 
the Russian delegates, however, at once set off for that place 
on January 5. 

On that day Mr. Lloyd George, speaking to the delegates of 
the trade unions, answered the Central Powers with a clear 
statement of the British war aims, of what she was fighting 
for, and on what conditions she would welcome peace. She 
was not fighting a war of aggression; was not seeking the de- 
struction of Germany or Austria-Hungary; did not wish to 
deprive Turkey of its capital nor of the rich lands of Asia 
Minor and Thrace. 

She was fighting for complete restoration of Belgium, with 
full indemnity for the devastation of her towns and provinces ; 
for the restoration of Serbia, Montenegro, and the occupied 
parts of France, Italy, Roumania ; for an independent Poland ; 
for a recognition of the great wrong of 1871 when, regardless 
of the wishes of the people, two provinces were torn from the 
side of France and incorporated in the German Empire; self- 
government must be granted those Austro-Hungarian nation- 
alities who have so long desired it; the claims of the Italians 
for union with those of their race and tongue must be satisfied ; 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 445 

and justice must be done to men of Roumanian blood and speech 
"in their legitimate aspirations." 

Constantinople should remain the capital of Turkey; the 
passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean should 
be internationalized and neutralized ; Arabia, Armenia, Meso- 
potamia, Syria and Palestine recognized as separate nations, 
and the German colonies held at the disposal of a conference 
whose decision must respect the wishes and interests of the 
people of each colony. Reparation must be made for injuries 
done in violation of international law, especially as regarded 
British seamen ; the sanctity of treaties must be reestablished ; 
and a tribunal set up to limit armament and lessen the chance 
of war. 

Taking up the speech of Count Czernin to the Bolshevist 
delegates, Mr. George said: "We are told that 'it is not the 
intention' of the Central Powers 'to appropriate forcibly' any 
occupied territories or 'to rob of its independence' any nation 
which has lost its 'political independence' during the war. ,It 
is obvious that almost any scheme of conquest and annexation 
could be perpetrated within the literal interpretation of such 
a pledge. 

"Does it mean that Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro and 
Roumania will be as independent and as free to direct their own 
destinies as the Germans or any other nation ? Or does it mean 
that all manner of interferences and restrictions, political and 
economic, incompatible with the status and dignity of a free, 
self-respecting people, are to be imposed ? If this is the inten- 
tion there will be one kind of independence for a great nation 
and an inferior kind of independence for a small nation. . . . 
Reparation for the wanton damage inflicted on Belgian towns 
and villages and their inhabitants is emphatically repudiated. 
The rest of the so-called 'offer' of the Central Powers is almost 
entirely a refusal of all concessions. The question whether any 
form of self-government is to be given to Arabs, Armenians, 
or Syrians is declared to be entirely a matter for the Sublime 
Porte. . . . 

"On one point only are they perfectly clear and definite. 
Under no circumstances will the 'German demand' for the 
restoration of the whole of Germany's colonies be departed 



446 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

from. All principles of self-determination, or as our earlier 
phrase goes, government by the consent of the governed, here 
vanishes into thin air." 

Everywhere among the Allies the Prime Minister's restate- 
ment of the war aims of Great Britain found a hearty approval 
and telegrams of congratulation were still coming to Down- 
ing Street when President Wilson on January 8 appeared be- 
fore Congress and stated his "progi-am of the world's peace." 

"1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which 
there shall be no private international understandings of any 
kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the 
public view. 

"2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside 
territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas 
may be closed in whole or in part by international action for 
the enforcement of international covenants. 

''3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic bar- 
riers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions 
among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating 
themselves for its maintenance. 

"4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national 
armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with 
domestic safety. 

"5. A free, open-minded and absolutely impartial adjust- 
ment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of 
the principle that in determining all such questions of sover- 
eignty the interests of the population concerned must have equal 
weight with the equitable claims of the Government whose title 
is to be determined. 

"6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a 
settlement of all questions aflfecting Russia as will secure the 
best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in 
obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed oppor- 
tunity for the independent determination of her own political 
development and national policy and assure her of a sincere 
welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of 
her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also 
of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The 
treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 447 

to come will be the acid test of their good-will, of their com- 
prehension of her needs as distinguished from their own inter- 
ests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. 

"7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacu- 
ated and restored without any attempt to limit the sovereignty 
which she enjoys in common with all other free nations, No 
other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confi- 
dence among the nations in the laws which they have them- 
selves set and determined for the government of their relations 
with one another. Without this healing act the whole struc- 
ture and validity of international law is forever impaired. 

''8. All French territory should be freed and the invaded 
portions restored and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 
1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the 
peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted in 
order that p'eace may once more be made secure in the interests 
of all. 

"9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be 
effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. 

"10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among 
the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be 
accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development. 

"11. Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro should be evacu- 
ated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and 
secure access to the sea ; and the relations of the several Balkan 
States to one another determined by friendly counsel along 
historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and 
international guarantees of the political and economic inde- 
pendence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan States 
should be entered into. 

"12. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman empire 
should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationali- 
ties which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an 
undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested oppor- 
tunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should 
be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and com- 
merce of all nations under international guarantees. 

"13. An independent Polish State should be erected which 
should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish 



448 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

populations, which should be assured a free and secure access 
to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and 
territorial integrity should he guaranteed by international 
covenant. 

''14. A general association of nations must be formed un- 
der specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guar- 
antees of political independence and territorial integi'ity to 
great and small States alike." 

Germany having flatly refused to transfer negotiations to 
Stockholm, they were resumed at Brest-Litovsk and dragged 
along until January 23. By that time the Central Powers had 
demanded the cession of the Baltic provinces and drew a line 
of demarcation from the Gulf of Finland east of the Moon 
Sound Islands to Valk, and thence to Brest-Litovsk, declared 
these were the last terms they would offer, and that if they were 
not accepted hostilities would be at once resumed and Revel 
occupied within a week. They were unanimously rejected by 
the Bolshevist delegates; but at their request the Central Pow- 
ers granted a recess until January 29 in order that the peace 
proposals might be laid before the Council of Soldiers' and 
Workingmen's delegates. 

On the following day, January 24, Count Hertling, the 
Imperial German Chancellor, in a speech before the Main 
Committee of the Reichstag, answered both Lloyd George and 
President Wilson.^ Taking up the fourteen points in the Presi- 
dent's speech, he said, concerning the first, on no secret treaties : 
^'History shows that it is we above all others who would be able 
to agree to the publicity of diplomatic documents. . . . The 
negotiations at Brest-Litovsk are being conducted with full 
publicity. This proves we are quite ready to accept this 
proposal." The second point, freedom of the seas, was also 
"demanded by Germany as the first and one of the most impor- 
tant requirements of the future. Therefore, there is here no 
difference of opinion." With point three, trade equality : "We, 
too, are in thorough accord. . . , We, too, condemn economic 
war which would inevitably bear within it causes of future 
warlike complications." Point four, limitation of armaments, 

* The speech is given in full in Current History for March, 1918, pp. 
389-394. 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 449 

was "entirely discussable." . . . "An understanding might be 
reached without difficulty on the first four points of Mr. Wil- 
son's program." 

The fifth, colonial claims, was sure to "encounter some 
difficulties in any case," and "for the present it may be left 
for England, which has the gi*eatest colonial empire, to make 
what she will of this proposal of her ally." Point six, evacua- 
tion of Russian territory, concerned "only Russia and the four 
allied Powers." "I^ow that the Entente has refused within the 
period agreed upon by Russia and the Quadruple Alliance to 
join in negotiation, I must, in the name of the latter, decline 
to allow any subsequent interference." 

Point seven, Belgium free and restored. Count Hertling 
said, "belongs to those questions the details of which are to 
be settled by negotiation at the peace conference." So long as 
the Allies held that the integrity of their territory could "offer 
the only possible basis of a peace discussion," he must "refuse 
the removal, in advance, of the Belgian affair from the entire 
discussion." 

Point eight, all French territory free and Alsace-Lorraine 
restored, was refused. "Forcible annexation" formed no part 
of the official German policy, but the conditions of evacuation 
must be settled between Germany and France. Alsace-Lorraine 
would never be given up. 

Points nine, ten and eleven, having to do with the Italian 
frontier, were left to be dealt with by Count Czernin. Mat- 
ters touched on in point twelve concerned "our loyal, brave 
ally Turkey" and must be left to the Turkish statesmen. Point 
thirteen dealt with Poland. To this. Count Hertling said, it 
was not the Entente, "but the German Empire and the Austro- 
Hungarian Monarchy which liberated Poland from the Czaris- 
tic regime.'^ Therefore, it was Germany, Austria and Poland 
that must settle the future of that country. "The last point, 
the 14th, deals with a leagiie of nations." If such a league 
proved, on closer examination, to be in the spirit of justice 
and impartiality to all, "then the Imperial Government is 
gladly ready, when all other pending questions have been set- 
tled, to begin the examination of the basis of such a bond of 
nations." 



450 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

While Count Hertling was addressing the Main Committee 
of the Reichstag, Count Czernin made his reply to Lloyd George 
and the President before the Austrian Parliament. In that 
part which had to do with the speech of President Wilson, 
Count Czernin said it was evident that no such offer could be 
accepted in all its detail. Were this the case negotiations would 
be unnecessary and "peace might be made by simple accept- 
ance, by a simple yea and amen." Taking up the fourteen 
points, he had "nothing to say on the point which discusses 
abolishing secret diplomacy and complete publicity of negotia- 
tions." He had "serious doubts whether it is always the most 
practical and quickest way to reach a result." Of points two 
and three and four he approved. To point five he made no 
reference. To point six he replied that Austria-Hungary did 
■not demand a square meter of Russian territory, and to point 
seven that: "So far as these possessions concern her allies, 
whether in the case of German possessions, Belgium or Turkey, 
Austria-Hungary, faithful to her engagements, will go to the 
extreme in defense of her allies. She will defend the pre-war 
possessions of her allies as she would her own." The eighth 
point was not discussed; to the ninth he said: "(Italy had, be- 
fore the war, an opportunity of realizing a great territorial 
expansion without firing a shot. She refused to do this and 
joined in the war. She has lost hundreds of thousands in 
killed, and millions in war expenses and destroyed riches, all 
that solely in order to lose the advantage which she would have 
been able to gain." Point ten was answered in the negative. 
Point eleven was refused; point twelve was covered in his 
answer to seven; to the thirteenth he said, "We also are sup- 
porters of the creation of an independent Polish State," and 
to the fourteenth, "In his idea of a league of Peoples, the Presi- 
dent would very probably meet with no opposition in this 
monarchy." 

February 11, 1918, the President replied to Count Hertling 
and Count Czernin. The German Chancellor's speech he found 
very vague, very confusing, full of equivocal phrases, and lead- 
ing it was not clear where. 

"His discussion and acceptance of our general principles 
lead him to no practical conclusions. He refuses to apply them 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 4.51 

to the substantive items which must constitute the body of any 
final settlement. He is jealous of international action and of 
international council. He accepts, he says, the principle of 
public diplomacy, but he appears to insist that it be confined, 
at any rate in this case, to generalities, and that the several 
particular questions of territory and sovereignty, the several 
questions upon whose settlement must depend the acceptance of 
peace by the twenty-three States now engaged in the war, must 
be discussed and settled, not in general council, but severally 
by the nations most immediately concerned by interest or 
neighborhood. 

"He will discuss with no one but the representatives of Rus- 
sia what disposition shall be made of the peoples and the lands 
of the Baltic provinces ; with no one but the Government of 
France the 'conditions' under which French territory shall be 
evacuated; and only with Austria what shall be done with 
Poland. 

"In the determination of all questions affecting the Balkan 
States he defers, as I understand him, to Austria and Turkey ; 
and with regard to the agreements to be entered into concern- 
ing the non-Turkish peoples of the present Ottoman Empire, 
to the Turkish authorities themselves. 

»••••• • 

"It must be evident to every one who understands what this 
war has wrought in the opinion and temper of the world that 
no general peace, no peace worth the infinite sacrifices of these 
years of tragical suffering, can possibly be arrived at in any such 
fashion. The method the German Chancellor proposes is the 
method of the Congress of Vienna. We cannot and will not 
return to that. 

"What is at stake now is the peace of the world." . . . 
"The peace of the world depends upon the just settlement of 
each of the several problems to which I adverted in my recent 
address to the Congress. I, of course, do not mean that the 
peace of the world depends upon the acceptance of any par- 
ticular set of suggestions as to the way in which those problems 
are to be dealt with. I mean only that those problems each and 
all affect the whole world ; that unless thev are dealt with in 



452 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

a spirit of unselfisli and unbiased justice, with, a view to the 
wishes, the natural connections, the racial aspirations, the secur- 
ity and peace of mind of the peoples involved, no permanent 
peace will have been attained. . . . 

"Is Count von Hertling not aware that he is speaking in 
the court of mankind, that all the awakened nations of the 
world now sit in judgment on what every public man, of what- 
ever nation, may say on the issues of a conflict which has spread 
to every region of the workl 'i The Reichstag resolutions of 
July themselves frankly accepted the decisions of that court. 
There shall be no annexations, no contributions, no punitive 
damages. Peoples are not to be handed aboiit from one sover- 
eignty to another by an international conference or an under- 
standing between rivals and antagonists. I^ational aspirations 
must be respected ; peoples may now be dominated and gov- 
erned only by their own consent. 'Self-determination' is not 
a mere phrase. |It is an imperative principle of action, which 
statesmen will henceforth ignore at their peril. 

"We cannot have general peace for the asking or by the 
mere arrangements of a peace conference. It cannot be pieced 
together out of individual understandings between powerful 
States. All the parties to this war must join in the settlement 
of every issue anywhere involved in it, because what we are 
seeking is a peace that we can all unite to guarantee and main- 
tain, and every item of it must be submitted to the common 
judgment whether it be right and fair, an act of justice, rather 
than a bargain between sovereigns. 

"The United States has no desire to interfere in European 
affairs or to act as arbiter in European territorial disputes. . . . 

"But she entered this war because she was made a partner, 
whether she would or not, in the suft'erings and indignities 
inflicted by the military masters of Germany against the peace 
and security of mankind ; and the conditions of peace will touch 
her as nearly as they will touch any other nation to which is 
entrusted a leading part in the maintenance of civilization. 
She cannot see her way to peace until the causes of this war 
are removed, its renewal rendered, as nearly as may be, 
impossible. 

"This war had its roots in the disregard of the riohts of 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 453 

small nations and of nationalities which lacked the union and 
the force to make good their claim to determine their own alle- 
giances and their own forms of political life. Covenants must 
now be entered into which will render such things impossible 
for the future ; and those covenants must be backed by the 
united force of all the nations that love justice and are willing 
to maintain it at any cost. . . . 

"Count Czernin seems to see the fundamental elements of 
peace with clear eyes, and does not seek to obscure them. He 
sees that an independent Poland, made up of all the indis- 
putably Polish peoples who lie contiguous to one another, is 
a matter of European concern, and must, of course, be con- 
ceded; that Belgium must be evacuated and restored, no mat- 
ter what sacrifices and concessions that may involve ; and that 
national aspirations must be satisfied, even within his own 
empire, in the common interest of Europe and mankind. 

"If he is silent about questions which touch the interest 
and purpose of his allies more nearly than they touch those of 
Austria only, it must, of course, be because he feels constrained, 
I suppose, to defer to Germany and Turkey in the circum- 
stances. Seeing and conceding, as he does, the essential priu; 
ciples involved and the necessity of candidly applying them, 
he naturally feels that Austria can respond to the purpose of 
peace as expressed by the United States with less embarrass- 
ment than could Germany. He would probably have gone 
much further had it not been for the embarrassments of Aus- 
tria's alliances and of her dependence upon Germany. 

"After all, the test of whether it is possible for either 
Government to go any further in this comparison of views is 
simple and obvious. The principles to be applied are these : 

"First — That each part of the final settlement must be 
based upon the essential justice of that particular case and 
upon such adjustments as are most likely to bring a peace that 
will be permanent. 

"Second — That peoples and provinces are not to be bartered 
about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were mere 
chattels and pawns in a game, even the great game, now for- 
ever discredited, of the balance of power; but that, 

"Third — Every territorial settlement involved in this war 



454 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

must be made in the interest and for the benefit of the popu- 
lations concerned, and not as a part of any mere adjustment 
or compromise of claims among rival States ; and, 

"Fourth — That all well-defined national aspirations shall be 
accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be accorded them 
without introducing new or perpetuating old elements of dis- 
cord and antagonism that would be likely in time to break the 
peace of Europe, and consequently of the world. 

"A general peace erected upon such foundations can be 
discussed. Until such a peace can be secured we have no choice 
but to go on." 

February 12 Mr. Lloyd George made his reply to the speech 
of the German Chancellor, and February 25 Count Hertling 
answered the four points of President Wilson's speech of 
February 11. 

"It has been repeatedly said that we do not contemplate 
retaining Belgium, but that we must be safeguarded from the 
danger of a country with which we desire after the war to 
live in peace and friendship becoming the object or the jump- 
ing-off ground of enemy machinations. If, therefore, a pro- 
posal came from the opposing side, for example from the 
Government at Havre, we should not adopt an antagonistic 
attitude even though the discussion at first might only be 
unbinding." 

Meanwhile, as there did not seem to be a chance of such a 
thing happening, he "must adhere to the existing method of 
dialogue across the channel and the ocean." 

Turning to the four points, he asked as to the first, "Who 
would contradict this ?" Certain "it is that only peace based 
in all its parts has a prospect of endurance." The second point 
also could "be unconditionally assented to," and so could the 
third, "^ow in the fourth clause he demands that all well- 
defined national aspirations shall be accorded the utmost satis- 
faction that can be accorded them without introducing new or 
perpetuating old elements of discord and antagonism that would 
be likely in time to break the peace of Europe, and consequently 
of the world. Here also I give assent in principle, and I 
declare, therefore, with President Wilson, that a general peace 
on such a basis is discussable." But these principles must not 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 455 

be proposed by President Wilson alone. "They must be defi- 
nitely recognized by all States and nations." 

''Our war aims from the beginning were the defense of the 
Fatherland, the maintenance of our territorial integrity, and 
the freedom of our economical development. Our warfare, even 
when it must be aggressive in action, is defensive in aim. I 
lay special stress on that subject just now in order that no 
misunderstandings shall arise about our operations in the east. 
After breaking off the peace negotiations by the Russian dele- 
gation on February 10 we had a free hand against Russia. 
The sole aim of the advance of our troops, which was begun 
seven days after the rupture, was to safeguard the fruits of 
our peace with Ukraine. Aims of conquest were in no way a 
determining factor. . . . We do not intend to establish our- 
selves, for example, in Esthonia, or Livonia. In Courland and 
Lithuania our chief object is to create organs of self-determina- 
tion and self-administration." 

Allusions in the speech of Count Hertling to aifairs in 
Russia make it necessary to narrate what had there taken place 
since January 28 when the Bolshevist delegates went home to 
lay the German peace terms before the Congress of Soldiers' 
and Workingmen's delegates. January 30, 1918, the confer- 
ence at Brest-Litovsk was resumed and continued until Febru- 
ary 10, when the Russian delegates broke off negotiations, 
refused to sigti a treaty of peace and formally withdrew Russia 
from the war. In a wireless announcement addressed "to all 
whom it may concern," Trotsky said: 

"The peace negotiations are at an end. The German capi- 
talists, bankers, and landlords, supported by the silent co- 
operation of the English and French bourgeoisie, submitted 
to our comrades, members of the peace delegations at Brest- 
Litovsk, conditions such as could not be subscribed to by the 
Russian revolution. 

"The Governments of Germany and Austria possess coun- 
tries and peoples vanquished by force of arms. To this author- 
ity the Russian people, workmen and peasants, could not give 
its acquiescence. We could not sign a peace which would bring 
with it sadness, oppression, and suifering to millions of work- 
men and peasants. 



456 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

"But we also cannot, will not and must not continue a war 
begun by Czars and capitalists in alliance with Czars and capi- 
talists. We will not and we must not continue to be at war 
with the Germans and Austrians, workmen and peasants like 
ourselves. 

"We are not signing a peace of landlords and capitalists. 
Let the German and Austrian soldiers know who are placing 
them in the field of battle and let them know for what they 
are struggling. Let them know also that we refuse to fight 
against them. 

"Our delegation, fully conscious of its responsibility before 
the Russian people and the oppressed workers and peasants 
of other countries, declared on February 10, in the name of 
the Council of the People's Commissaries of the Government 
of the Federal Russian Republic to the Governments of the 
peoples involved in the war with us and of the neutral coun- 
tries, that it refused to sign an annexationist treaty. Russia, 
for its part, declares the present war with Germany and 
Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria at an end. 

"Simultaneously, the Russian troops received an order for 
complete demobilization on all fronts." 

It was to this surrender that Count Hertling alluded when 
he said, "After the breaking off of the peace negotiations by the 
Russian delegates on February 10, we had a free hand as 
against Russia." How the free hand was to be used was shown 
when, on February 18, the Germans once more resumed the 
offensive and advanced against the great fortress of Dvinsk in 
the north, and to the relief of the Ukrainians in the south. 
With the course of events in the Ukraine we need be not con- 
cerned. It is enough to know that the Ukrainian People's 
Republic was proclaimed by the Rada on November 20, 1917; 
that delegates attended the Brest-Litovsk conference in Janu- 
ary, 1918, and signed a separate peace with Germany on Febru- 
ary 9 ; and that it was in response to a call from the Ukrainians 
for help against Bolsheviki, bent on the destruction of the 
Republic, that the Germans made their advance towards Kieff". 

To resist the invasion of the Germans was impossible, and 
February 19 Trotsky and Lenine issued by wireless a procla- 
mation denouncing the invasion but declaring that under tlie 



INTERNATION/^L PEACE DEBATE 457 

circumstances the Council of People's Commissaries was forced 
formally to declare its willingness to sign a peace on the terms 
dictated by the Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk. General 
Hoffmann in reply demanded that the offer be put in writing 
and sent to the German commander at Dvinsk. A messenger 
carrying a copy of the wireless message with the signatures of 
Trotsky and Lenine was sent post haste to Dvinsk ; but the Ger- 
mans continued their advance, occupied Esthonia, took Lutsk, 
Minsk and Kovno and February 23, through Foreign Secretary 
Kiihlmann, the Imperial Government made a new peace offer, 
imposing terms more drastic than before. The terms must be 
accepted within forty-eight hours, and the treaty signed within 
three days and ratified within two weeks. The terms were at 
once accepted, a new delegation was sent to Brest-Litovsk, and 
March 3 the treaty was signed and the German advance was 
stopped within seventy miles of Petrograd. Finland, Esthonia, 
Livonia, Courland, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russian 
Armenia ceased to be Russian soil. Humiliating as were the 
terms, they were accepted by the Pan-Soviet Congress assem- 
bled at Moscow on March 14, 1918, To that Congress Presi- 
dent Wilson telegraphed a message of sympathy. 

''May I not take advantage of the meeting of the Congress 
of the Soviets to express the sincere sympathy which the people 
of the United States feel for the Russian people at this moment 
when the German power has been thrust in to interrupt and 
turn back the whole struggle for freedom and substitute the 
wishes of Germany for the purpose of the people of Russia ? 

''Although the Govermnent of the L^nited States is, unhap- 
pily, not now in a position to render the direct and effective 
aid it would wish to render, I beg to assure the people of Russia 
through the Congress that it will avail itself of every oppor- 
tunity to secure for Russia once more complete sovereignty 
and independence in her own affairs and full restoration to her 
great role in the life of Europe and the modern world. 

"The whole heart of the people of the United States is with 
the people of Russia in the attempt to free themselves forever 
from autocratic government and become the masters of their 
own life." 

Samuel Gompers in behalf of fhe American Alliance for 



458 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

Labor and Democracy sent a cablegram, "to the All-Russian 
Soviet/' assuring it that every blow struck at Russian freedom 
was as keenly felt by the people of the United States as it 
could be if struck at their own; that he spoke for a great or- 
ganized movement of working people devoted to the cause of 
freedom and the ideals of democracy; and the whole nation 
ardently desired to be helpful to Russia, and eagerly awaited 
to be told how its help might be most effectual. 

Three days after Russia made peace with the Central Pow- 
ers, Roumania, on March 6, was forced to sign a preliminary 
treaty which provided for the cession of Dobrudja as far as the 
Danube, changed the Austro-Hungarian-Roumanian frontier, 
required immediate partial demobilization, pledged the use of 
railways for the movement of troops of the Central Powers 
through Moldavia and Bessarabia to Odessa, and for the evacua- 
tion, at once, of all Austro-Hungarian territory occupied by 
Roumanian forces. During the German occupation of Roumania 
requisitions to the amount of $250,000,000 had been levied. 
These it was believed the Central Powers in the final treaty 
would treat as a war indemnity and never repay. 

Russia and Roumania were thus lost to the Allies, and sep- 
arate treaties had been made with Russia, Ukraine and Rou- 
mania. When speaking of them to a deputation of the Vienna 
City Council, April 2, 1918, Count Czernin took occasion to 
reply to President Wilson's four point speech of February 11. 
The four points, he said, were a suitable basis on which to be- 
gin negotiations for a general peace ; the only question was 
could the President imite his allies on this basis. As for him- 
self, he said : "God is my witness that we have tried everything 
possible to avoid a new offensive. The Entente would not have 
it. A short time before the beginning of the offensive in the 
west M. Clemenceau inquired of me whether and upon what 
basis I was prepared to negotiate. I immediately replied, in 
agreement with Berlin, that I was ready to negotiate and that 
as regards France I saw no other obstacle for peace than 
France's desire for Alsace-Lorraine. 

"The reply from Paris was that France was willing to ne- 
gotiate only on that basis. There was then no choice left." 
'" As soon as ]\I. Clemenceau, the French Premier, heard of 



INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 459. 

this lie exclaimed, '^Count Czernin has lied." Then followed an 
exchange of statements. That conversations had taken place in 
Switzerland in August, 1917, when M. Ribot was Premier, be- 
tween Count Revertata, a personal friend of the Emperor 
Charles, and Commandant Armand of the French General 
Staff ; that no results were obtained ; that the conversations were 
renewed in January and February, 1918, was not denied by 
either side. M. Clemenceau asserted they were held at the re- 
quest of Austria-Hungary. Count Czernin maintained it was 
at the request of France ; that after all it was not of consequence 
to know who began them, but who caused their collapse, and that 
France was responsible for this by her refusal to negotiate on 
the basis of her renunciation of the reacquisition of Alsace- 
Lorraine. M. Clemenceau, in his reply to this charge, said there 
was no need for Count Eevertata to obtain such information 
from Commandant Armand, for the Emperor Charles in a let- 
ter written in ]\rarch, 1917, had acknowledged ''France's just 
claim relative to Alsace-Lorraine." 

That such a claim had been acknowledged the Emperor 
stoutly denied. The French Prime Minister, he said in a tele- 
gram to the Kaiser, "driven into a corner is endeavoring to es- 
cape from the net of lies in which he has entangled himself by 
piling up more and more untruths," and did not hesitate to 
falsely state that "I recognized that France had a just claim 
to the reacquisition of Alsace-Lorraine. I disavow this asser- 
tion with indignation." 

Thus forced to prove its assertion the French Government 
published in full an autograph letter written March 31, 1917, 
by the Emperor Charles to his brother-in-law, Prince Sixte of 
Bourbon, and by him sent to President Poincare. In it were 
the words, "I beg you to convey secretly and unofficially to 
Poincare, President of the French Republic, that ,1 shall sup- 
port by every means, and using all my personal influence with 
my allies, the French just claims regarding Alsace-Lorraine." 
Count Czernin at once resigned. 

The long debate between the leaders of the warring nations 
came to an end with a speech from President Wilson at Balti- 
more, on April 6, 1918. On that day, "the anniversary of our 
acceptance of Germany's challenge to fight for our right to live 



460 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR 

and be free," the drive for the third Liberty Loan was to begin 
over all the country and it was to give a formal opening to this 
effort that the President spoke at Baltimore. ''I call you to 
witness," he said in the course of the speech, "that at no stage 
of this terrible business have I judged the purposes of Ger- 
many intemperately." He had sought to learn from the mouths 
of her spokesmen what are her objects in the war; had asked 
them to say plainly what it is they seek. "They have answered, 
answered in unmistakable terms. They have avowed that it 
is not justice but dominion and the unhindered execution of 
their own will." German statesmen were ready to discuss the 
terms of peace. At Brest-Litovsk her civilian delegates pro- 
fessed their willingness to conclude a fair peace and give to the 
peoples with whose fortunes they were dealing the right to 
choose their own allegiance. But her military masters pro- 
claimed a very different purpose. "Their purpose is, un- 
doubtedly, to make all the Slavic peoples, all the free and am- 
bitious nations of the Baltic Peninsula, all the lands that Turkey 
has dominated and misruled, subject to their will and ambition, 
and build upon that dominion an empire of force." 

Should such a program be carried out "everything that 
America has lived for and loved and grown great to vindicate 
and bring to a glorious realization will have fallen in utter 
ruin." "Germany has once more said that force, and force 
alone, shall decide whether justice and peace shall reign in the 
affairs of men, whether right as America conceives it or domin- 
ion as she conceives it shall determine the destinies of mankind. 
There is, therefore, but one response possible for us: Force, 
force to the utmost, force without stint or limit, the righteous 
and triumphant force which shall make right the law of the 
world and cast every selfish dominion down in the dust." 



INDEX 



"Acid test, the/' 447. 

Aerschot, atrocities at, 28, 

Affidavits, Stahl's false Lusi- 
tania, 104, 167. 

Agriculture, Department of, 
war work, 3G8, 309. 

Aims, Belligerents asked to 
state, 292-294. Answer, 295- 
296, 304-307. 

Albert, Dr. Heinrich, papers 
stolen, 170, 171. 

Albert I., King of the Belgians, 
protest against German atro- 
cities, 27-29. Answer of the 
President, 29; on war aims 
note, 303. 

Alcedo sunk, 426. 

Alien-enemies Act, 418; shut 
from seaboard, 419; and 
Panama Zone, 419. 

Alien-enemy property custo- 
dian, 418. 

Alliance — The German-Ameri- 
can, 24, 25, 36, 38, 137, 263- 
264, 328. 

Allies — on submarine blockade, 
77; on censorship of mails, 
268; on the Deutschland, 272, 
273-274; on German peace 
note, 295-296; on war aims, 
302-304; on our entrance in- 
to the war, 360-363; the 
Pope's peace note, 404; Eus- 
sian offer to, 434, 435, 440, 
443, 444. 

Alsace-Lorraine, 306, 404, 406, 
447, 449, 458-459. 

American Commission for Ee- 
lief in Belgium, 47-49, 285- 
289, 337. 



"American Day" in London, 
362-363. 

American Embargo Conference, 
work of, 234-236. 

American Federation of Labor, 
address to Eussia, 399-400. 

American Lidependence Union, 
139. 

American League to Limit Ar- 
mament, 135, 

American Neutrality League, 
137, 

American Peace and Arbitra- 
tion League, 129. 

American Peace Society, 137. 

American Union against Mili- 
tarism, 321. 

Americans, in the warring coun- 
tries, 14-17; in London, 15; 
relief for, 15, 16 ; in Germany, 
14-15. 

Ancona sunk, 202, 203 ; demand 
of U. S,, 203, 204; reply of 
Austria, 205-207 ; Labor's 
Peace Council on, 208; an- 
swer to Austria's note, 208- 
209 ; reply of Austria, 209, 

Andrassy, Count Julius, on 
peace offer, 300. 

Antilles transport sunk, 426. 

Anti-war demonstrations, 387- 
388, 392-394. 

Appam, the, captured by Ger- 
man raider; brought to New- 
port News; case of, 265-267; 
action of von Bernstorff, 266; 
action of Lansing, 267; action 
of Court, 267. 

Arabia sunk; American lives 
lost, 279; German note on, 



461 



462 



INDEX 



280-281; Great Britain on, 
281. 

Arabic sunk; American lives 
lost, 123, 124; German- 
American press on, 125; 
Bryan on, 126 ; Bernstorff on, 
126-127; von Bethmann-Holl- 
weg on, 128; liners not to be 
sunk without warning, 128 ; 
Germany disavows sinking, 
198-199; will pay damages, 
200. 

Archibald, J. J. F. ; papers 
seized, 173, 174, 413. 

Argentina, 363. 

Armed merchantmen ; Ger- 
many's position, 215; Allies' 
position, 215; Germany will 
treat as auxiliary cruisers, 
241, 243. Lansing proposes 
disarmament, 241-242 ; reso- 
lution in Senate, 243; Mc- 
Lemore resolutions, 344-245 ; 
Fuller resolution, 245. Sen- 
ator Stone to the President, 
246-247 ; President's reply, 
247; Speaker Clark, 248; 
Bryan on, 248 ; Gore resolu- 
tion, 249 ; Jones resolutions, 
249. President forces vote, 
251; Gore resolution, 251; 
McLemore resolution defeat- 
ed, 252. 

Armed-neutrality. President 
asks power to arm merchant 
ships, 340; bill passed by 
House, 342 ; filibuster in Sen- 
ate, 344-345; protest of Sen- 
ators, 345; rules amended 
and bill passed, 347. 

Armenian sunk, 120, 121. 

Armistice, Bolsheviki declare 
for, 434; signed at Brest-Li- 
tovsk, 440. 

Army, President's plan for in- 
crease, 231; bills for increase, 
231-232, 252-253; bill signed 



by President, 254; sent to 
Mexican border, 253; troops 
to be sent to France, 377; 
mobilization, 378-379 ; re- 
cruiting, 379-380; bill to in- 
crease, 383-385; the draft 
act, 385 ; proclamation, 385- 
386 ; registration, 387 ; draw- 
ing the numbers, 388-389 ; 
first in France, 394-395; 
troopship sunk, 427; fighting 
begins, 428, 429 ; at Cambrai, 
429; St. Mihiel salient, 430; 
in the Champaigne, 430; 
Chemin-des-Dames, Lune- 
ville, 430; casualties, 430; 
Pershing's offer, 431 ; number 
in France, 432. 

Asphyxiating gas, Dernburg on, 
150. 

Asquith, Herbert Henry, on our 
break with Germany, 330; on 
our declaration of war, 361. 

Atrocities. The Kaiser charges 
Belgium, 26 ; France charges 
Germany, 27 ; Belgium 
charges Germany, 28, 29 ; 
President Wilson answers the 
Kaiser, 27 ; and Belgium, 29 ; 
at Louvain and Vise, etc., 29, 
30 ; von Bernstorff on, 29, 30 ; 
German press on, 30 ; German 
pamphlets, 31, 32 ; German 
professors on, 33 ; Bernstorff 
charges manufacture of dum- 
dum bullets in U. S., 36; de- 
portation of Belgians, 281- 
289. 

Attorney-General of U. S. Ap- 
peals to State authorities, 
187, 188. 

Austria-Hungary. The Sera- 
jevo murder, 1 ; ultimatum to 
Serbia, 3; attempt of Pow- 
ers to localize the war, 4, 5; 
mediation offered, 6 ; war de- 
clared on Serbia, 5; Kussia 



INDEX 



463 



mobilizes, 7, 8 ; Germany acts, 
9 ; reservists in U. S., 17 ; pro- 
test against munition ship- 
ments, 152-153 ; reply of Lan- 
sing, 154-155; Dumba's let- 
ters, 176-179 ; Dumba recalled 
on request, 175 ; Ancona sunk, 
202-203; Austrian Admiral- 
ty on Ancona, 202-203; de- 
mand of U. S., 203-204; Aus- 
trian reply, 205-207; answer 
to the reply, 208-209; Aus- 
tria's reply, 209-210; Persia 
sunk, 210; Austria explains, 
210-211; Austria answers 
President's note, 298; severs 
diplomatic relations, 359 ; 
ships in our ports seized, 359 ; 
reception of President's an- 
swer to the Pope's peace note, 
409; war in Italy, 433; the 
President on Austria, 437; 
our declaration of war on, 
439 ; peace negotiations at 
Brest-Litovsk, 440-443, 448, 
455-457; treaty of Brest- 
Litovsk, 457; Count Czernin 
on peace negotiations, 441 ; 
on Lloyd George, 445 ; an- 
swer to, 450; to the Presi- 
dent, 458 ; the Prince Sixte 
letter, 459. 
Azores, The islands; war zone 
around, 428. 

Baker, Newton D., Secretary of 
War, 241. 

Bakers, licensed, 419. 

Balfour, Arthur James, on 
President's note to belliger- 
ents, 305-307; High Com- 
missioner to U. S., 364. 

Barthelme, George; to Cologne 
Gazette on break with Ger- 
many, 331-332. 

Behnke, Admiral, on use of sub- 
marines, 70, 71. 



Belgium. Will her neutrality 
be respected? 8; answer of 
France, S, 9 ; of Germany, 9 ; 
German ultimatum to, 9 ; an- 
swers of, 10 ; appeals to Great 
Britain, 10 ; Germany will not 
annex, 10 ; will not respect 
her neutrality, 10, 11 ; the 
"scrap of paper," 11 ; protest 
to the President, 27, 28, 29 ; 
answer of the President, 29 ; 
von Bernstorff on atrocities 
in, 29, 30; relief for, 44-50 
deportations from, 281-289 
Belgian women protest, 284 
Belgian Minister protests 
285'; action of U. S., 285-289 
on President's war aims note, 
303 ; relief taken over by Hol- 
land, 337. 

Bernhardi, General Friedrich 
von, letter, 257. 

Bernstorff, Count J. H. von, 
German Ambassador. On 
atrocities, 29, 30; charges 
manufacture of dum-dum bul- 
lets in U. S., 36, 37 ; on food- 
stuffs order, 62 ; delivers reply 
to protest on submarines, 70 
Lmitama note, 92, 101-102 
sends agent to Berlin, 104 
submits a false affidavit, 104 
167; on the Arahk. 127 
promises liners will not be 
sunk without warning, 128- 
129; protest against Wilhel- 
mina case and shipments of 
munitions, 145-147 ; on letters 
stolen from Albert, 170, 171, 
172 ; on the seized papers, 
181, 182; notifies Secretary 
of State of recall of Boy-Ed 
and von Papen, 188 ; on the 
Arabic, 198; on propaganda, 
255; on seizure of von Igel 
papers, 261 ; case of the Ap- 
pam, 265-267; delivers note 



464 



INDEX 



on ruthless submarine war, 
379 ; dismissed, 324 ; attempts 
to influence Congress, 411- 
412, 414-415. 

Berwindvale sunk, 217. 

Bethmanu-Hollweg, Dr. Theo- 
bald von. On the Arabic, 
128; on severance of rela- 
tions with Germany, 338- 
339. 

Bey, A. Rustem, Turkish Am- 
bassador, dismissed, 35. 

Blacklist; the British act, 274; 
protest of IT. S., 274-275 ; re- 
ply of Great Britain, 276. 

Blockade, the submarine. North 
Sea Zone, 54; German War 
Zone. 62-64, 71-73; U. S. 
suggests an agreement. 75-76; 
answer of the Allies, 77. 78- 
79. 

Bolivia breaks with Germany, 
363. 

Bolsheviki ; overthrow Provi- 
sional Government, 433 ; "no 
annexations, no indemnities," 
433, 434 ; Council of People's 
Commissaries, 434 ; offer 
armistice, 434 ; Trotzky's 
policy, 484-435 ; send peace 
delegates to Germans, 435 ; 
BTest-Litovsk, 435 ; suspen- 
sion of hostilities, 435; Allies 
to define attitude, 435 ; armi- 
stice, 440 ; peace negotiations, 
440; Count Czernin on, 441; 
terms discussed, 440-443 ; Al- 
lies given time to Join nego- 
tiations, 441 ; negotiations re- 
sumed, 448 ; broken off, Rus- 
sia out of the war, 455-456; 
Germans invade Russia, 456- 
457 ; treaty of Brest-Litovsk 
signed, 457 ; President's mes- 
sage to people of Russia, 457- 
458; Gompers to Congress of 
Soviets, 457-458. 



Bombs, dropped on Belgian 
towns, 29; on vessels of the 
Allies, 156, 157, 183, 262; 
on the Gushing, 86, 101, 105. 

Boy-Ed, Captain Karl, Naval 
attache, 93, 162, 169, 171, 
189; recalled, 188. 

Boy Scouts, 368. 

Brazil breaks with Germany, 
363. 

Bread. Bakers licensed, 419 ; 
Victory Bread, 425. 

Brest-Litovsk. Suspension of 
hostilities, 435 ; peace terms 
discussed, 440-443 ; negotia- 
tions resumed, 448; negotia- 
tions broken off, Russia out 
of the war, 455 ; Germany in- 
vades Russia, 456-457; treaty 
signed, 457. 

Brincken, Baron George Wil- 
liam von, 190. 

BrindiUa, the, seized, 52. 

Bryan, William J., Secretary of 
State. To von Bernstorff on 
dum-dum bullets, 37 ; to Sen- 
ator Stone on unneutral acts, 
39-44 ; protests against deten- 
tion of U. S. ships, 54-56 ; on 
misuse of our flag, 65, 66; on 
German war zone, 66; on 
regulation of submarine war- 
fare, 75, 76; first Lusitania 
note, 95-97; resigns, 106; 
statement by, 107; German- 
Americans approve, 108; ap- 
peal "To the American Peo- 
ple," 111; "To the German- 
Americans," 112; speech at 
New York City, 113-114; con- 
fers with Dumba, 114-115 ; 
on sinking of Arabic, 126 ; on 
armed merchantmen, 245, 
252; on resumption of ruth- 
less submarine war, 321; ap- 
peal against war, 325. 

Buenos Aires, 363; "spurlos ver- 



INDEX 



46^ 



senkt" note, 409-410; effect 
of, 411. 

Biinz, Carl, 162, 165, 166. 

Bureau of Foreign and Domes- 
tic Commerce, 370. 

Burgess, John W. Endorses 
"Truth About Germany," 31. 

Burian, Baron, 186. 

Busse, T. F., 361. 

Caine, Hall. On President's 
note to belligerents, 299; on 
■■peace without victory," 312; 
"American Day" in London, 
362-363. 

California sunk, 329. 

Cambon, Paul, 11. 

Cambrai, American troops at, 
429. 

Ccmb sunk, 82. 

Cassin torpedoed, 426. 

Causes of the war, as stated by 
the President, 350-355; by 
House Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, 356-359. 

Censorship Board, 418. 

Censorship of foreign language 
press, 418, 419. 

Censorship of the mails, 40, 
267-270; of cables, 39. 

Chamberlain, Senator. Bill for 
national defense, 252-253, 
254. 

Chauncey, destroyer, sunk, 426. 

Chemin-des-Dames, American 
troops, 430. 

Chemung sunk, 280. 

Chicago. Pro-Germanism, 394. 

Chili, 363. 

China enters the war, 403. 

City of Memphis sunk, 349. 

Clark, Champ, Speaker of H. 
R. Action on McLemore res- 
olution, 247-248. 

Clearances. False ones obtained 
by Hamburg-American line, 
162; in San Francisco, 190; 



262-263; not granted Oden- 
wald, 83. 

Clemenceau, Georges. Dispute 
with Count Czernin; the 
Prince Sixte letter, 458-459. 

Coal. Price fixed, 420; Gar- 
field Administrator, 420 ; 
shortage of, 420-424. 

Coaling of German warships, 
43, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166. 

Columbian sunk, 279. 

Commerce. Effect of war on, 
13, 20, 40, 51-81; our ships 
detained, 52, 53, 58-60; 
North Sea war zone, 54; pro- 
test against detention of 
ships, 54-56 ; British answer, 
56-57; the Dacia and TFt7- 
helmina, 59-60, 61, 62 ; Ger- 
man order as to foodstuffs, 60, 
61 ; German war zone, 65- 
66. 

Commissions, The High ; from 
Great Britain, 364; from 
France, 364. 

Community Gardens, 369. 

"Concert of free peoples," 294. 

"Condonation, entire and recip- 
rocal," 404. 

Congress. Aids stranded Amer- 
icans, 16 ; Ship Registry 
Bill, 21 ; War Eisk Insurance, 
21 ; asked to stop munition 
shipments, 35-36 ; President's 
speeches to ; on more revenue, 
21-22 ; preparedness, 134-137 ; 
President's speech, 134-135 ; 
Sussex address, 219-221; 
President on hyphenates and 
preparedness, 192-193 ; resolu- 
tions on, 193 ; annual speech, 
230-231 ; resolutions, 231- 
232 ; did Great Britain warn 
her subjects not to travel on 
ships of belligerents? 232- 
233 ; petition for embargo, 
234; the great petition, 234; 



460 



INDEX 



work of American Embargo 
Conference, 234-236 ; Hay 
bill, 239-240 ; action on armed 
merchantmen, 243-244; Mc- 
Lemore resolutions, 244-245 ; 
Gore resolutions, 247, 251 ; 
action of the President, 246- 
247; Bryan on, 245, 252; 
President forces a vote, 251 ; 
army enlarged, 231-232, 252- 
253, 383, 385; retaliation for 
Blacklist, 270, 274; Senate 
endorses President's call for 
statement of aims, 292-294; 
President's "peace without 
victory speech," 307-310; 
speech on severance of rela- 
tions with Germany, 322-324; 
bill to arm merchantmen, 
340, 342, 344 ; President asks 
power to arm, 240-241; the 
Senate filibuster, 344-345 ; 
"little group of willful men," 
347; Senate rules amended, 
347; special session 65th 
Congress called, 347; war 
message, 350-355; resolution 
declaring war, 355, 356; 
causes of war, 356-359 ; Food 
Control Bill, 374; war meas- 
ures, 417. 

Conservation of Food, 370; the 
President on, 373-374; Food 
Control Bill, 374; Hoover 
Food Administrator, 376 ; 
policy of announced, 376. 

Contraband, 51, 52, 53, 55-56, 
56-57, 59-62, 73-74, 84, 96. 

Conventions, National Nomi- 
nating. Democratic Party on 
hyphenates, 264-265; Repub- 
lican Party on hyphenates, 
265. 

Copper, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57. 

Costa Rica, 363. 

Cotton, 57. Case of Dacia, 58, 
59. 



Council of National Defense, 
366. 

Council of Workmen's and Sol- 
diers' Delegates, 398, 399,402. 

Courland, lost to Russia, 457. 

Cronholm, Folke, 411. 

Crowley, Charles C, 190. 

Cuba declares war, 363. 

Cushing bombed, 86, 101, 105. 

Czernin, Count V. zu Chude- 
nitz. On Russian peace 
terms, 441 ; Lloyd George on 
Czernin's Speech, 445; an- 
swers Lloyd-George and the 
President, 450 ; answers 
President's 4 points speech, 
458; dispute with Clemen- 
ceau, 458-459; the Prince 
Sixte letter, 459. 

Dacia. the. Case of, 58, 59. 

Deache, Paul, 183; sent to 
prison, 263. 

Declaration of London, 51, 63, 
71. 

Declarations of war. Austria 
on Serbia, 7 ; Germany on 
Russia, 9 ; on Belgium, 9 ; on 
France, 10; Great Britain on 
Germany, 10, 11; Japan, 24; 
Italy, 100 ; China, 403 ; Cuba, 
363; United States on Ger- 
many, 355-356, 359 ; on Aus- 
tria, 439. 

"Deliberately unfriendly." 
Third Lusitania note, 122. 

Democratic Party. Platform on 
hyphenates, 264-265. 

Denmark protests against war 
zone and mines, 54; exports 
to, 56, 57. 

Deportations from Belgium, 
281-289. 

Dernburg, Dr. Bernhard, 23; 
propaganda work, 34; on 
sinking of Lusitania, 91; on 
conditions of peace, 148-150. 



INDEX 



467 



Deutschland, the. Arrival at 
Baltimore, 271-273; at New 
London, 273 ; protest of the 
Allies, 273-274; reply of the 
U. S., 274. 

Dillon, John, on "peace with- 
out victory," 312. 

Diplomatic relations. Threat 
to sever, 219-221; effect at 
home and abroad, 221-224; 
severed with Germany, 324- 
327, 328, 329. Austria sev- 
ers relations with United 
States, 359. 

Disarmament of merchant ships, 
241-242 ; Germany's action, 
242-243; in Congress, 243- 
246; action of the President, 
346-348; Bryan on, 348, 350; 
in Congress, 351-352. 

District of Columbia, alien ene- 
mies shut from, 419. 

Draft, the selective. Tfhe act, 
383-385 ; the President on, 
386; opposition to, 387-388; 
number registered, 388 ; draw- 
ing the numbers, 388 ; the call 
to the colors; the President 
to the men, 390-391; God- 
speed to the boys, 391-392; 
pro-German propaganda, 392- 
394. 

Dumba, Dr. Constantine, Aus- 

. trian Ambassador. Bryan 
confers with, 114, 115; the 
Archibald papers, 173-175 ; 
request for recall, 175; let- 
ters, 176-179. 

Dum-dum bullets, 26; Bern- 
storff on, 36. 

Eagle Point sunk. Americans 
lost, 217, 218. 

Eavestone, the, sunk, 329. 

Eckhardt, von. German minis- 
ter to Mexico, letter from, 
411. 



Edelsheim, General von. On 
war with U. S., 132-133. 

Embargo on export of muni- 
tions, 36, 37, 38; American 
League to Limit Armament, 
135; bills offered in Senate 
and House, 136, 137; Journal 
of the Knights of Labor, 136 ; 
American Peace Society ; 
German-American Alliance, 
137; American Neutrality 
League, 137 ; reply of Bishop 
Ehinelander, 138; action of 
foreign language newspapers, 
143, 144; Chicago election, 
144; von Bernstorff protests, 
145-147; the reply, 150-152; 
Austria protests, 152-153; 
reply of Mr. Lansing, 154- 
155; the Dumba letters, 176- 
179; monster petition, 234; 
activities of American Em- 
bargo Conference, 234-236. 

Embargo on food, 370-371. 

Englishman sunk, 216, 217, 
357. 

Evelyn, the, sunk by sub- 
marine, 82. 

Exports, increase to neutrals, 
55, 56, 57; to neutrals, 370- 
371. 

Falaba. Sunk by submarine, 

82, 85, 101. 
Farmers' Non-Partisan League, 

393. 
Farmers. President appeals to, 

367. 
Fay. Eobert. 183. 
Felbrueck, Hans. On feeling in 

Germany, 339. 
Ferdinand, Archduke Franz, 

murdered, 1. 
Filibuster in Senate against 

armed-neutrality bill, 344- 

345 ; the President's appeal 

to the people ; "little group of 



468 



INDEX 



willful men," 345-347; rules 
amended, 347. 

Finland. Lost to Eussia, 457. 

Finland, transport, sunk, 426. 

Flag Day. President's speech, 
264. Hexamer's speech, 264. 

Flag note. U. S. protests 
against use of flag, 65, 66, 67 ; 
reply of Great Britain, 67, 
68; reply of Germany, 70, 71- 
73. 

Foch, General, 431. 

Food. President appeals to 
Farmers, 367; Secretary of 
Agriculture on need, 368 ; 
Hoover on, 369-370; call for 
young men for farming, 368; 
Community gardens, 368-369 ; 
Hoover on waste, 370; con- 
servation of, 370; export to 
neutrals, 370-372 ; Food Con- 
trol Bill, 374-375; Hoover, 
Food Administrator, 376 ; 
announces policy, 376; prices 
of wheat, flour and bread 
regulated, 376, 377; bakeries 
licensed, 419 ; prices regulat- 
ed, 420. 

Food Control Bill, 374; put in 
force, 418. 

Food Supply and Prices, Com- 
mittee on, 367. 

Food. United States Food Ad- 
ministration, 370. 

Foodstuffs, to neutrals, 55 ; case 
of Wilhelmina, 59, 60; Ger- 
many on, 60, 61; von Bern- 
storff on, 62; U. S. on, 76; 
Germanv on, 76; embargo on, 
370-371*; to neutrals, 371. 

"Forcible resistance," 109, 121, 
129. 

Ford Peace Party, 140-143, 

France. Time for Serbia, 5 ; 
will respect Belgian neutral- 
ity, 8, 9 , mobilizes, 9 ; Ger- 
many declares war, 10 ; Kaiser 



charges use of dum-dum bul- 
lets, 26; protest of Poincare, 
27; Eheims Cathedral, 30; 
relief for northern, 50; Ger- 
man war zone, 62-65 ; reply 
to U. S. note on submarine 
blockade, 77, 78, 79; on cen- 
sorship of the mails, 268 
Lansing's reply, 269 ; on the 
Deutschland, 269, 273-274 
on German peace note, 295 
296; on war aims, 303-304 
German war zone, 317-318; on 
our entrance into the war 
360; sends mission to U. S 
364; the Pope's peace note. 
404 ; American army in, 377 
394-395, 428-432; war in 
403, 433 ; Alsace-Lorraine 
306, 404, 406, 447, 449, 458 
Prince Sixte letter, 458-459. 

Freedom of the Seas, 109, 121, 
309, 340. 

Fritzen, Alfred, 261. 

Frye, William P., sunk by Ger- 
man raider, 82 ; the case of, 
84-85, 199. 

Fuel saving, 421-424. 

Fuller, resolution on armed 
ships, 245. 

Gardner, Augustus. On pre- 
paredness. 133, 134, 233. 

Garfield, Harry A. Appointed 
fuel administrator, 419; coal 
shortage, 420-424 ; heatless 
days ordered, 422-423. 

Garrison, Lindley M., Secretary 
of War. On preparedness, 
239; resigns, 240. 

Gerard, James W., American 
Ambassador at Berlin. Speech 
in Berlin, 300; recalled, 324; 
treatment of by Germany, 
334-335. 

German-Americans, 26; ask 
Congress to stop munition 



INDEX 



469 



shipments, 38 ; charges 
against the U. S., 39-44. 
Bryan appeals to, 113; Pres- 
ident on, 192-193, 263; de- 
nounce the President and 
Eoosevelt, 263 ; Saengerbund, 
194; political action, 263; 
Democratic platform on, 264- 
265; Republican platform on, 
265. 

German- American Alliance. 
Appeal to President to use his 
good offices with Japan, 24, 
25; on shipment of muni- 
tions, 36, 38, 137; Eoosevelt 
to, 263-264; Hexamer on, 
264; on severance of diplo- 
matic relations, 328. 

Germany. Warns the Powers, 
4; asked to join a conference, 
6 ; asked to join in mediation, 
7; seeks British neutrality, 7, 
8; demands Russia demobi- 
lize, 8; declares war on Rus- 
sia, 9 ; mobilizes and enters 
Luxemburg, 9 ; ultimatum to 
Belgium, 9 ; declares war on 
France, 10; the "scrap of pa- 
per," 11 ; war with Great Brit- 
ain, 11 ; ships in our ports, 
13; Americans in, 14, 15; 
German propaganda, 23-26; 
the Kaiser protests to IT. S., 
26 ; answer of the President, 
27; Bernstorff on atrocities, 
29, 30; on dum-dum bullets, 
36 ; Declaration of London, 
51, 63, 71 ; foodstuffs, 60, 61 ; 
case of the Wilhelmina, 59, 60, 
61, 62 ; War Zone around Brit- 
ish Isles, 61-65 ; use of mines, 
53, 64; U. S. protest against 
war zone, 66; reply, 71-73; 
Admiral Behncke on use of 
submarines, 70, 71 ; U. S. pro- 
poses regulation. 75, 76; an- 
swer, 76; "strict accountabil- 



ity," 66 ; sinking of Lusitania, 
86-91; medal struck, 100; 
first Lusitania note, 101-102 ; 
second lyusitania note, 109- 
111; answer; will permit use 
of "reasonable number of neu- 
tral steamers under the Amer- 
ican flag," 118; Nehraskan 
note, 120; third LiLsitania 
note, "deliberately unfriend- 
ly," 121; Arabic sunk, 123, 
124, von Bernstorff's note, 
126-127; von Bethmann-Holl- 
vfeg on, 128; von Bernstorff 
promises liners will not be 
sunk without warning, 128- 
129; Hesperian sunk, 129- 
130; disavows part in con- 
spiracies, 195-197; disavows 
responsibility for sinking of 
Arabic, 198 ; case of the Frye, 
199 ; case of the Orduna, 200; 
note on submarines, 211, 214; 
Sussex sunk, 215-216; denial 
by Germany, 218; U. S. 
threatens to sever diplomatic 
relations, 219-221; admits 
sinking Sussex, 224-226; the 
Sussex pledge, 226; note on 
armed merchantmen, 241- 
243 ; disavows support of 
plotters, 255 ; Dr. Albert's pa- 
pers, 170-171 ; Archibald 
papers, 173-174; von Papen 
papers, 255-257; confession 
of von der Goltz, 257-260; 
case of the Appam, 265-267; 
the Deutschland, 271-274 ; the 
U-53 sinks ships off Nantuck- 
et, 276-277; note on Arabia, 
280-281; deportation of Bel- 
gians, 281-289; peace offer, 
291-292; answer of Lloyd 
George, 292; President asks 
belligerents to state aims, 
292-294; Germany and Aus- 
tria answer President, 298; 



470 



INDEX 



note to neutral nations, 304; 
resumes ruthless submarine 
war, 315; war zone around 
British Isles and Mediterra- 
nean, 316-318; American 
ships to be striped, 316-317; 
diplomatic relations with sev- 
ered, 322-324; sinkings re- 
sumed, 329 ; offer to discuss, 
330-331; answer, 331; Yar- 
rowdale prisoners, 333, 334; 
treatment of Gerard, 334, 
335 ; seeks to amend Prussian 
treaties, 335-336 ; Bethmann- 
Hollweg on severance of rela- 
tions, 338-339 ; Hans Del- 
brueck on, 339 ; proposes Mex- 
ico-Japanese alliance against 
U. S., 343; U-boat sinks 
three American vessels, 349 ; 
U. S, declares war on, 350- 
355, 359; effect of declara- 
tion on her South American 
relations, 363 ; vessels in our 
ports seized, 366 ; number of 
ships sunk by, 397; the Avar 
in France, 397; offers Eussia 
an armistice, 401 ; collapse of 
Eussia, 402 ; the Pope's peace 
note, 403-406 ; answer of the 
President, 406-407; German 
press on, 408-409 ; Luxburg's 
"spurlos versenkt" note, 409- 
411 ; the von Eckhardt note, 
411 ; von Bernstorff seeks to 
influence Congress, 411-412; 
von Igel papers seized, 412 ; 
disclosures, 412-415; destroys 
our naval vessels, 426-427; 
war zone around Azores, 428 ; 
our troops fight, 428, 429; 
armistice with Eussia, 435, 
440 ; Brest-Litovsk treaty, 
440-444, 448, 455; involves 
Russia, 456-457 ; treaty of 
Brest-Litovsk,- 457 ; peace 
with Eoumania, 459; Count 



Hertling on basis of peace, 
448, 454-455. 

Gibbons, Cardinal, on Belgian 
relief, 47. 

Gibson, Hugh. Belgian relief 
work, 45, 46. 

Goltz, Major von der. Confes- 
sion of conspiracy, 257-260; 
brought to U. S., 261. 

Gore, Senator. Bills to forbid 
American citizens to travel 
on ships of belligerents, and 
issuance of passports, 232; 
resolution on travel, 232; on 
armed ships, 249, 251. 

Goriear, Joseph, 183-186. 

Great Britain. Sir E. Grey 
seeks to prevent war, 5, 6, 7; 
Germany bids for neutrality, 
7; the "scrap of paper," 11; 
enters the war, 11 ; no sep- 

■ arate peace, 11 ; American 
refugees in London, 15; on 
Declaration of Loudon, 51; 
detains our ships, 52, 53; 
jSTorth Sea a military zone,' 
54 ; answers U. S. protest, 56- 
57 ; case of the Dacia, 58, 59 ; 
case of the Wilhelmina, 59- 
62, 74; German War Zone, 
62-65 ; uses our flag, 65 ; U. S. 
flag note, 66; reply, 67, 68; 
U. S. proposes regulation of 
submarine war, 75-76 ; reply 
of the Allies, 77 ; answer of 
U. S., 77, 78; reply of 
France, 78-79 ; reply of Great 
Britain, 79-81; "Did Great 
Britain warn her subjects not 
to travel on ships of belliger- 
ents?" 232-233; case of the 
Appam, 265-267 ; detention 
of mails, 267-268 ; contents of 
the mails, 268; reply of 
Great Britain and France, 
268-269; case of the Deutsch- 
land, 271-273; the "Black-. 



INDEX 



471 



list," 274, 275-276; on -the 
Arabiki, 280-281 ; German 
peace offer, 290-293; answer 
of Lloyd George, 292 ; answer 
of the Allies, 295-296; an- 
swer to President's note to 
belligerents, 301-303 ; Bal- 
four's note, 305-307; As- 
qiiith on our break with Ger- 
many, 330 ; Bonar Law on, 
330 ; King George, the War 
Cabinet, and Parliament on 
our declaration of war, 360- 
361 ; "American Day" in Lon- 
don, 362; sends High Com- 
missioner to LT. S., 363-364; 
reception of Pershing, 395 ; 
reception of the Pope's peace 
note, 404-405 ; Lloyd George 
appeals for troops, 432; war 
aims, 444-446. 

Greece — a n s w e r s President's 
note, 298. 

Grew, Joseph Clark, work in 
Belgium, 285-287. 

Grey, Sir E. Seeks extension 
of time for Serbia, 5; pro- 
poses conference of Powers, 
6 ; proposes mediation. 7 ; 
German bid for neutrality, 7, 
8; asks if Belgian neutrality 
will be respected, 8, 9; the 
"scrap of paper," 11; on de- 
tention of our ships, 56-57; 
on use of our flag, 67, 68 ; on 
submarine war, 67; on Wil- 
helmina, 74-75; on censor- 
ship of mails, 268; on the 
Deutschland, 273-274; on the 
blacklist, 276. 

Guard, The National; sent to 
the Mexican border, 253 ; 
federalized, 252-253, 254; 
mobilization, 378-379. 396. 

Gill flight torpedoed, 86, 88, 101. 
105. 



Hague Conventions, 153, 154; 
case of the Appam, 265-267. 

Hamburg-American Line, In- 
dicted, 162; the trial, 165, 
166. 

Hay bill for defense, 239-240, 
253. 

Heatless days, 422-423. 

Hertling, Count George V. von. 
Answers Lloyd George and 
Wilson, 448; President an- 
swers, 450-454; answers the 
President, 454-455. 

Hesperian sunk, 129, 130. 

Hexamer, Dr. C. J., 24, 25. On 
hyphenates, 264; severance of 
diplomatic relations, 328. 

Holland. On war zone and 
mines, 54; regulation of food 
exports, 10, 371 ; takes over 
Belgian relief work, 337. 

Holt, Frank. Attacks J. P. 
Morgan, 156. 

Holtzendorff, Admiral von. De- 
nies U-boat sank Sussex, 224. 

Hoover, Herbert C. Belgian re- 
lief work, 46, 47, 50, 339; 
Chairman Committee on Food 
Supply and Prices, 367; to 
the Boy Scouts, 368; appeals 
to women on food saving, 
369-370 ; Food Administrator, 
376 ; policy, 376 ; on food sav- 
ing. 424 ; Victory Bread, 425 ; 
meatless days, wheatless 
meal, 425; wheatless days, 
426. 

Hopfer, General, deportation of 
Belgians, 283. 

Horn, Werner. Attempts to 
destroy bridge, 160, 161. 

Housatonic sunk, 327. 

Huerta, Victoriana. German 
agent for Mexico, 167-169. 

Hustings, Senator. On activi- 
ties of American Embargo 
Conference, 234-237. 



472 



INDEX 



Hyphenates, denounced by the 
President, 192, 193; reply of 
the Saengerbund, 194; the 
President denounced by, 263; 
President's Flag Day speech, 
264; Dr. Hexamer on, 264; 
Democratic and Republican 
Party Platforms on, 264, 265. 

"Idiotic Yankees," 180. 

Igel, Wolf von. Papers seized, 

261; indicted, 262, 412-415. 
Illinois sunk, 349. 
Insurance, Bureau of War Eisk, 

21. 
Interned German ships. Prinz 

Eitel Friedrich, 82, 85 ; Kron- 

prinz Wilhelm, 85. 
Irish-Nationalists on the war, 

25. 
Italy, enters the war, 100; de- 
feat, 433. 
I. W. W., opposition to draft, 

392 ; seizures of papers, 394. 

Jacob Jones, destroyer, tor- 
pedoed, 426. 

Jagow, Gottlieb von, 10, 11; on 
the William P. Frye, 84; on 
first Lusitania note, 101, 102 ; 
on Gulflight and Cusking, 
105; U. S. reply, 109-111; 
answer of, 117; note on the 
Arabic, 198-199, 200; denies 
sinking the Sussex, 218; ad- 
mits it, 229. 

Japan. Ultimatum to Germany, 
24 ; German-American alli- 
ance on, 24, 25; Germany 
proposes she join Mexico in 
war against U. S., 343. 

Joffre, General Joseph Jacques 
Cesaire. Visit to U. S., 364 ; 
receives Pershing in Paris, 
396. 

Jones, Senator, on armed ships. 
249. 



Journal, the Providence, on 
Lusitania, 87, 88, 92, 93, 104, 
114-115, 144, 145, 167, 168, 
169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 183- 
186, 188, 189, 190, 255-256, 
277-278. 

Kerensky, Alexander F., 399, 

433. 
Kirk Oswald, bombs on, 262. 
Knights of Labor, Journal of, 

against aid to belligerents, 

136. 
Konig, Paul, 167. 
Kronprinz Wilhelm. German 

raider enters ^Newport News, 

85. 
Kroonland, the, 52. 
Kiihlmann, Dr. Eichard, 440, 

457. 

Labor's Peace Council. Pro- 
German work, 190, 191. 

iMconia sunk; American lives 
lost, 342. 

Lamar, David, 191. 

Lansing, Eobert, 16; Secretary 
of State, 107; sends 2d Lusi- 
tania note, 109; sends 3d 
Lusitania note, 121; sends 
Ancona note, 203; answers 
Ancona note, 208; on Zim- 
mermann's statement, 213 ; 
Sussex note, 219; on Sussex 
pledge, 228 ; asks Allies to dis- 
arm merchantmen ; 241-242 ; 
on the Appam case, 267 ; on 
censorship of mails, 269-270; 
case of the Deutschland, 273- 
274; on the British "Black- 
list," 274-276; on deportation 
of Belgians, 285-289; state- 
ment on President's note to 
belligerents, 294-295; on 
Gerard's Berlin speech, 301 ; 
the Zimmermann letter, 343 ; 
makes public Luxburg letters. 



INDEX 



473 



409-410; the von Eckhardt 
letter, 410. 

Law, Andrew Bonar. On our 
break with Germany, 330, 

Law, Lyman H., sunk, 341. 

Leelanaw sunk, 123, 124. 

"League for Peace," 308, 310. 

"League of nations." 293, 308, 
448, 450. 

Lenine, Nikolai. 399. 

Leuderitz, Karl A. Indicted, 
262. 

Liberty Loans. The first, 380- 
383 ; the second, 415-416. 

Licenses to manufacture, 375; 
bakeries, 419 ; alien-enemy, 
418. 

Liebau Employment Agency, 
413-414. 

Lithuania, lost to Russia, 457. 

"Little group of willful men," 
347. 

Liquor, import stopped, 375. 

Lloyd George, David, on Ger- 
man peace offer, 292 ; on our 
declaration of war, 360-361; 
appeal for troops, 432 ; on war 
aims, 444-445. 

Loans, to the Allies, 380; to 
Russia, 400, 403. 

London. American refugees in; 
15; "American Day" in, 362- 
363. 

Louvain, atrocities in, 26, 27, 
28, 30. 

Luneville, American troops, 430. 

Jjusitania, uses American flag, 
65, dQ, 69 ; the flag note, 66 ; 
the warning, 86-87 ; sunk 
by submarine, 89 ; German 
language press on, 90; Dern- 
burg on, 91 ; the German note, 
92; first note, 95-97; medal 
struck, 100; German note, 
101-102 ; German language 
press on, 90, 98, 99. 103; false 
affidavits, 104; Bryan resigns, 



106; second Lusitania note, 
109-111; von Jagow's an- 
swer, 117-118; will permit use 
of "neutral steamers under 
American flag," 118; British 
press on note, 118; the Pres- 
ident's "deliberately un- 
friendly" reply, 122 ; German 
press on, 123 ; attempt to 
reach agreement, 212-213. 

Luxburg, Count. "Spurlos ver- 
senkt" note, 409-410; effect 
of in Buenos Aires, 410; ex- 
planation of Sweden, 410- 
411. 

Luxemburg, invaded by Ger- 
many, 9. 

"Mails, The, as a German War 
Weapon," 269, 271. 

Mail. The Evening. Bought by 
German agents, 171. 

Mails, censorship of, 267 ; con- 
tents of, 268 ; protest of U. 
S., 269-270. 

McAdoo, Secretary of the Treas- 
ury. On Liberty Loan, 415, 
416; Director General of 
Railroads, 420. 

McLemore resolution on armed 
merchantmen, 244-245. 

Manchester Engineer sunk, 217, 
218. 

Marina sunk ; American lives 
lost, 279: German note. 281. 

Meatless days, 425. 

Medal. German Lusitania 
medal, 100. 

Mercier, Cardinal. On Belgian 
relief, 47. 

Mexico. Huerta. German agent 
for, 167-169; Villistas raid 
the border, 253; troops called 
out, 253 ; Germany proposes 
she join Japan in war on V. 
S., 343; von Eckhardt letter, 
411. 



474 



INDEX 



Meyer, Dr. F. W. Letter from, 
256. 

Meysenburg, Baron von. Letter, 
256. 

Milwaukee, 393-394. 

Milyukov, Pavel Nikolaivich, 
349, 399. 

Mines, in the North Sea, 53, 54 ; 
protest of neutrals, 54; U. S. 
on, 75; Germany on, 76. 

Minneapolis. Socialists at- 
tempts to hold anti-war meet- 
ing, 393. 

Minnesota, pro-Germanism, 393. 

Mobilization. Russia against 
Austria, 7, 8; Germany 
against France, 9; France 
against Germany, 9 ; Ger- 
many begins general mobiliza- 
tion, 9; of U. S. army, 378- 
379; of drafted men, 390; of 
militia, 396. 

Mowe, German raider, sends 
Appam to NeAvport News, 
265-267. 

Mond, Sir Alfred, 363. 

Monnett, Frank S., 191. 

Monroe Doctrine, 134, 298, 309, 
313, 409. 

Mons, deportations from, 283. 

Morgan, J. P., attacked by Holt, 
156. 

Munitions. Congress asked to 
stop export, 35-36; protest of 
von Bernstorff, 36, 37; an- 
swer of the companies, 37; 
answer of Bryan, 37-38; Ger- 
man-Americans on, 38 ; bills 
to forbid export to belliger- 
ents, 136, 137; Journal of 
Knights of Labor on, 136; 
German-American Alliance 
on, 137; Bishop Rhinelander 
on, 138 ; German-Americans 
in Philadelphia, 138-139; in 
Washington, 139, 140; appeal 
of the foreign language press, 



143, 144, 145 ; von Bernstorff 
protests, 146; Austria pro- 
tests, 152-153; reply of Lan- 
sing, 154-155; Holt attacks 
Morgan, 156; von Bernstorff 
on, 164; attempts to organize 
strikes in factories; Dumba's 
letters, 176-179; attempt to 
control, 179-180, 181, 182. 
Federal statutes, 187, 188; 
Pacific coast plots, 190; peti- 
tions for embargo on export, 
234; the monster petition, 
234 ; American Embargo Con- 
ference, 234-237; attempts to 
injure factories, 413-414. 

National Security League, 135. 

Naturalized Citizens. Presi- 
dent's "too proud to fight" 
speech, 94. 

Navy. President's plan for in- 
crease, 231 ; mobilization, 
379; recruiting, 380; disas- 
ters to our war ships, 426- 
427; man-power, 427. 

Nebraskan sunk, 100; note on, 
120. 

Neutrals. Increase of our trade 
with, 56, 57, 58; Great Brit- 
ain on our trade with, 56-57; 
protest against mine laying 
and war zone, 54; reply to 
President's note, 298; Ger- 
man note to, 304; protest 
against war zone, 324-325 ; ex- 
ports to regulated, 371; pro- 
test against regulation, 372. 

Neutral rights. The Allies on 
Declaration of London, 51, 
52 ; Great Britain detains our 
ships, 52, 53; North Sea a 
military zone, 54; U. S. pro- 
tests, 54, 55; reply of Great 
Britain, 56-58 ; the Dacia, 
58, 59; Wilhelmina, 59-62, 
74; Crerman foodstuffs order, 



INDEX 



475 



60-63 ; German Zone around 
British Isles, 61-65; misuse 
of our flag, 65, 66 ; U. S. pro- 
tests against zone, 66 ; against 
use of U. S. flag, 65, 66; 
British reply, 67, 68; reply 
of Germany, 70, 71-73 ; U. S. 
proposes regulation of sub- 
marine war, 75, 76 ; answer of 
Germany, 76 ; policy of the Al- 
lies, 77; submarine sinkings; 
the Prinz Eitel Friedricli, 82, 
85 ; the Frye, 82, 84-85, 199 ; 
the Odenivald, 83; the Kron- 
prinz Wilhelm, 85 ; the Ciish- 
ing, 86, 101, 105; the Gul- 
flighl 86, 88, 101, 105; the 
[jusitania, 86-89 ; first Lusi- 
tania note, 95-97; second 
Lusitania note, 109-111 ; von 
JagoVs reply. Germany will 
permit "neutral steamers un- 
der American flag,'' 118; 
London press on notes, 118; 
Nehraskan note, 100, 120; 
Armenian sunk, 120, 121 ; 
President's "deliberately un- 
friendly" warning, 122; Or- 
duna, 121 ; third Lusitania 
note, 122 ; Leelanaw smik, 
123; Arabic sunk, 123-121; 
Hesperian sunk, 129, 130; 
Germany not responsible for 
Arabic, 198-199 ; Ancona 
sunk, 202 ; notes on the An- 
cona, 203, 205, 208, 209; 
Persia sunk, 210-211; Sussex 
sunk, 215; Sussex notes, 218- 
229 ; Sussex pledge, 226 ; Cen- 
tral Powers on armed mer- 
chantmen, 2-41-24:3 ; Lansing 
on use of submarines, 241- 
242; resolutions in Congress, 
243 ; McLemore resolutions, 
244-245 ; Fuller resolution, 
245; excitement in Congress, 
245-248 ; Gore resolution, 



249, 251 ; case of the Appam, 
265-267 ; censorship of mails, 
267-268 ; British Blacklist, 
274, 275-276; ruthless sub- 
marine warfare resumed, 279 ; 
new war zones around British 
Isles and in Mediterranean, 
316-318; treatment of Amer- 
ican ships, 316-317; excite- 
ment in U. S., 318-321; dip- 
lomatic relations with Ger- 
many severed, 322-324. 

New York City, Oberburger- 
meister of Berlin to Mayor, 
32. 

Newspapers — in Germany, on 
the Dacia, 59 ; on Flag note, 
69 ; on war zone protest, 73 ; 
on "deliberately unfriendly" 
note, 123 ; Arabic note, 199 ; 
on Ancona note, 207; on Sus- 
sex note, 223 ; on relations 
with the IT. S., 301 ; on "peace 
without victory," 313. 

Newspapers — British, on the 
Flag note, 69 ; on "too proud 
to fight," 95; on resignation 
of Bryan, 109; on Germany's 
Lusitania note, 118; on An- 
cona note, 207 ; on President's 
letter to Senator Stone, 249 ; 
on Deutschland, 272 ; aims of 
the Allies, 299 ; on "peace 
without victory," 311; recep- 
tion of Pershing, 395-396. 

Newspapers — Foreign language, 
seek to cripple munition fac- 
tories, 144; licensed, 418-419. 

Newspapers — The German- 
American, propaganda, 23 ; 
The Fatherland, 24; on atroc- 
ities, 30; on German War 
Zone protest, 69 ; on the Lus- 
itania, 90; on first Lusitania 
note, 98, 99; on Germany's 
reply, 103; on resignation of 
Bryan, 108-109; President's 



476 



INDEX 



"deliberately unfriendly" 

warning, 122 ; on sinking of 
Arabic, 125; on the Hespe- 
rian, IJJl ; on the Sussex note, 
222; on Sussex pledge, 227; 
on President's League for 
Peace speech, 311; new war 
zone, 319-320; on severance 
of relations with Germany, 
325-326; on Presidential can- 
didates, 263 ; on President's 
war aims note, 300; on Ge- 
rard's speech ; on severance of 
diplomatic relations, 325-326 ; 
on armed neutrality, 342; on 
President's answer to the 
Pope, 408. 

"No annexations, no indemni- 
ties/' 399, 401, 404, 433, 436, 
452. 

North Dakota, pro-Germanism, 
393. 

North Sea : mined by Germany, 
53, 54; made war zone by 
Great Britain, 54; German 
war zone, 62-65 ; protest from 
neutrals, 66; zone defended 
by Germany, 70-71. 

"No quarrel with the German 
people," 353, 354. 

"No selfish ends to serve," 354. 

OdenwaJd, case of the, 83. 

Oliver, Sir Frederick Scott. On 
President's note to belliger- 
ents, 299. 

"Omit any word or any act," 97. 

"One choice we cannot make," 
352. 

Orduna, 121, 201. 

Organization of American 
Women for Strict Neutrality, 
monster petition from, 234. 

"Our object now," 353. 

"Out of the trenches by Christ- 
mas," 141. 

"Overt acts," 324. 



Pacifists, opposition to sever- 
ance of relations with Ger- 
many, 328; to war with Ger- 
many, 351 ; to the draft, 387- 
388 ; to registration, 392-394. 

Page, Walter H., American Am- 
bassador at London. On Bel- 
gian relief, 45, 47, 48. 

Palermo sunk, 280. 

Panama breaks with Germany, 
363. 

Papen, Captain Franz von. 
Military attache, 114; spy 
work done by, 159, 160, 161, 
162, 170, 171, 179-180, 189; 
recalled, 188, 189, 190 ; papers 
seized, relations with von 
der Goltz ; "idiotic Yankees' " 
letter, 180; recalled, 188; 
farewell, 189-190; indicted, 
261 ; seizure of papers, 255- 
257. 

Paraguay, 363. 

Paris. Eeception to Pershing, 
395. 

Parker, Sir Gilbert. On Belgian 
relief, 49. 

Passports, false, 14, 158-160, 
358. 

Peace. The Ford peace party, 
140-143 ; Dernburg's seven 
conditions, 148-150 ; the Pres- 
ident on, 230; German offer, 
290-292; Emperor to his 
army, 291 ; offer sent to 
Great Britain and France by 
U. S., 291; answer of Russia, 
292; of Lloyd George, 292; 
the President asks belligerents 
to state aims, 292-294; Allies' 
reply to German note, 295- 
296 ; Emperor replies to Allies 
in address to his army, 297; 
Senate endorses the President, 
297-298; Germany and Aus- 
tria reply to President's note, 
298; Swiss Federal Council 



INDEX 



477 



reply, 298; Norway replies, 
298 ; Spain replies, 298 ; Hall 
Caine on the note, 299; Sir 
F. S. Oliver on note, 299; 
London Times and Count 
Andrassy, 299-300 ; Allies an- 
swer President's note; their 
peace terms, 302; Belgian 
note, 303; German note to 
neutral Powers, 304; Allies' 
note, 305-307 ; President's 
"peace without victory" 
speech, 307-310; Congress 
amazed, 310; reception of 
speech by the press, 310-312 ; 
in London, 312-313; Bryan to 
New York Peace IMeeting, 
321 ; excitement in U. S., 318- 
321; Pope's note, 403-40-4; 
Allies' opinion of note, 404- 
405 ; President's answer, 406- 
407 ; German opinion of 
note, 408-409; Brest-Litovsk 
treaty, 440-444 ; Lloyd-George 
on, 444-445; Wilson's 14 
points, 446-448 ; Count 
Hertling on, 448-449; Count 
Czernin on, 450. 
"Peace without victor/' speech 
of the President, 307-310; re- 
ception of at home and 
abroad, 310-313. 
People's Council of America for 
Democracy and Peace, 393- 
394. 
Pershing, General John. Sent 
to Mexican border, 253 ; com- 
mander of our troops in 
France, 377; reception in 
London, in Paris, 394-396. 
Persm sunk, 210; Austrian 

note, 210-211, 357. 
Philadelphia, pro-Germans in, 
24, 25, 26, 36, 38; Belgian 
relief work, 48; American 
Neutrality League, Bishop 
Khinelander to, 137-138; 



German-Americans demand 
embargo on munitions, 138- 
139; anti-war demonstrations, 
387, 392-393. 
Platiiria seized, 53, 
Plots. German plots, conspir- 
acies in U. S. False pass- 
ports, 158, 159, 160, 162; 
false clearances, 162,165,166; 
Wedell, 158; Ruroede, 159, 
160; Horn, 160-161; Steg- 
ler, 162 ; Hamburg-American 
Line, 162-163, 165-166; K6- 
nig, 167 ; Stahl, 167 ; Huerta, 
167-169; Fay and Scholz, 
183; Goricar," 183-186; Crow- 
ley, 190; von Brincken, 190; 
Dr. Albert's papers, 170; 
seizure of Archibald papers, 
173, 174; of Dr. Albert's pa- 
pers, 170, 171; Dumba letters, 
176-179; dismissed, 173-175; 
von Papen and Boy-Ed dis- 
missed, 188; Germany dis- 
avows support of plotters, 
195-197 : seizure of von Papen 
papers, 255-257 ; confession of 
von der Goltz, 257-261; ar- 
rest of plotters, 261 ; von Igel 
papers seized, 261; convic- 
tions, 262. 
Poincare, Eaymond, President 
of France, protests to Presi- 
dent Wilson, 27; congratu- 
lates President on declaration 
of war, 360. 
Poland, 442, 444, 447, 449, 450, 

451, 453, 457. 
Pope, The. Peace note to bel- 
ligerents, 403-404; reception 
of note by the Allies, 404-405 ; 
Lord Robert Cecil on, 405; 
reception of note in U. S., 
405 ; reply of the President, 
406-407; reception of the 
note in Germany and Austria, 
408-409. 



478 



INDEX 



Postmaster General on foreign 
language newspapers, 418- 
419. 

Preparedness. Gardner on, 133 ; 
General Wood on, 134; the 
President's speech, 134-135 ; 
National Security League, 
135; Journal of the Knights 
of Labor, 136 ; Senator Cham- 
berlain's bill, 137 ; American 
League to Limit Armament, 
135 ; bills and resolutions be- 
fore Congress, 133, 136; the 
President on, 230-231; bills 
and resolutions in Congress, 
231-232 ; the President's tour 
of the West, 237-238; Secre- 
tary of War on, 239; resigns, 
240; Chamberlain bill for de- 
fense, 255-256 ; Hay bill, 239 ; 
President heads parade, 
264. 

President, The. On war prices, 
13 ; proclaims neutrality, 18- 
20; the Kaiser protests to, 
26; Poincare protests to, 27; 
answer to the Kaiser, 27 ; Bel- 
gium protests to, 27, 29 ; an- 
swer to, 29; "strict account- 
ability," 66; "too proud to 
fight," 94; first LiLsitariia 
note, 95-97; "omit any word 
or any act," 97 ; second Lusi- 
tania note, 109-111; third 
lALsitania note, 121-122 ; "de- 
liberately imf riendly," 122 ; 
on preparedness, 134-135 ; re- 
ply to von Bernstorff's protest, 
145-147; denounces the hy- 
phenates, 192, 193; Ancona 
notes, 204, 208; the Sussex 
note; threatens severance of 
diplomatic relations, 219-221; 
on the Sussex pledge, 228- 
229 ; on preparedness, 230- 
231 ; speeches in the West on 
preparedness, 237-238; Secre- 



tary of War resigns, 239-240 ; 
action on McLemore resolu- 
tion, 246-247; forces a vote, 
251 ; signs bill for National 
defense, 254; denounced by 
German- Americans, 263 ; 

heads preparedness parade, 
264; Flag Day speech, 264; 
asks belligerents to state aims, 
292-294 ; answer of the neu- 
trals, 298; answer of the Al- 
lies, 295, 296; of Belgium, 
296 ; of the Allies to German 
offer, 304-305; Balfour an- 
swers note, 305-307 ; speech 
to Congress on "peace with- 
out victory," 307-310; severs 
diplomatic relations with 
Germany, 322-324; "overt 
acts," 324 ; asks power to arm 
merchantmen, 340-341 ; fili- 
buster in the Senate, 344- 
345 ; appeals to the people ; 
"little group of willful men," 
345-347 ; given power to arm 
merchantmen, 347 ; the war 
speech, 350-355; "world must 
be made safe for democracy," 
354 ; war declared, 355-356 ; 
congratulations from Entente 
Allies, 360-362; appeals to 
farmers, 367 ; forbids exports, 
370 ; on price fixing. 373 ; ap- 
peal to women to save food, 
373-374; Food Control Bill, 
374 ; declines to send Roose- 
velt to France, 377-378; on 
increase of army, 383 ; fixes 
registration day, 386-387; to 
the drafted men, 390-391 ; an- 
swer to the Pope's note. 406- 
407, 407-409; defines "heat- 
less days" order, 423; on the 
war, 435-438; asks declara- 
tion of war on Austria, 439 ; 
war declared. 439 ; peace 
terms of, 446-448. 



INDEX 



479 



Prices. Effect of war on, in U. 
S., 13, 14; reflated, 374, 
418-419. 

Prinz Eitel Friedrich; enters 
Newport News, 83 ; sinks the 
]yilliam P. Frye, 82 ; in- 
terned, 85. 

Professors, the German, appeal 
of "To the Civilized World,"' 
33. 

Profiteers, President appeals to, 
372-373 ; Hoover to, 376. 

Propaganda, German, in U. S., 
23, 24, 25, 36, 38; appeal of 
the President, 24; "The 
Truth About Germany," May- 
or of Berlin to Mayor of N. 
Y. C, 32; appeal of German 
Professors, 33 ; of German 
Universities, 33; Dr. Dern- 
burg, 34 ; Baron von Schoen, 
34; the Turkish minister, 34, 
35; shipment of munitions, 
36-38 ; unneutral acts charged 
against U. S., 39-44 ; embargo 
demanded, 135, 136, 137-140, 
143-145, 148-150; Germany 
denies any part in, 255 ; Bern- 
hardi, 257. 

Prussia, old treaties with cited 
and discussed, 84; case of the 
Appam, 265-267; attempt of 
Germany to amend, 335-337. 

Eailroads, taken over by Gov- 
ernment, 420-421. 

Eathenau, Dr. Walter. Plan for 
treatment of conquered na- 
tions; put in force in Bel- 
gium, 288. 

Reading, Lord. Appeal for 
troops, 432. 

Recruiting, 379-380. 

Red Cross. American aids Bel- 
gium, 48 ; prepares for war, 
327. 

Reichstag. Resolutions on sub- 



marine war, 217; the Chan- 
cellor on peace, 290-292. 

Remington Arms Co., charges 
against, 36, 37-41. 

Republican party platform on 
hyphenates, 265. 

Reservists, seek to go home, 17, 
18 ; false passports for, 14, 
158-160, 358. 

"Restitution, reparation, guar- 
antees," 292, 312. 

Rheims, destruction of cathe- 
dral, 30. 

Rhinelander, Bishop, patriotic 
note, 138. 

"Right is more precious than 
peace," 355. 

Rintelen, Franz von, 191, 262. 

Rockefeller, John D., the, 
seized, 52. 

Rome. Rejoicings over our 
declaration of war, 360. 

Root, Elihu, heads commission 
to Russia, 400 ; reaches Petro- 
grad, 401 ; opinion of Russia, 
403. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, denounced 
by German-American Alli- 
ance, 263; reply, 263; Presi- 
dent declines to send him to 
France, 377-378; on Ger- 
many's peace offer, 297. 

Roumania. Lost to the Allies, 
459. 

Eoivanmore torpedoed, 279. 

Ruroede, Carl. German spy, 
158, 159, 160. 

Russia. Seeks extension of time 
for Serbia, 4, 5 ; declines good 
offices of Great Britain, 6 ; 
asks mediation, 7; partial 
mobilization, 7 ; will stop mil- 
itary preparations, 8; full 
mobilization, 8 ; Germany de- 
mands demobilization, 8 ; 
Germany declares war, 9 ; rev- 
olution in, 348; the new re- 



480 



INDEX 



public, 348; the Provisional 
(rovernment, 348 ; Lenine, 
398; revolution in, 398-399; 
Keren sky, 398 ; American 
Federation of Labor to Coun- 
cil of Soldiers' and Workmen's 
Delegates, 399 ; Loan to, 400 ; 
Commission sent to, 400; 
President's address, 400-401 ; 
German offer of armistice re- 
jected, 401-402; military col- 
lapse, 402 ; loans to, 403 ; 
Bolshevist Government, 433- 
434 ; German armistice, 435 ; 
peace terms discussed, 440- 
443, 448 ; out of the war, 
455; invaded by Germany, 
456-457; treaty of Brest-Li- 
tovsk, 457; loses Finland, 
Livonia, Courland, Lithuania, 
Ukraine, Poland. 457 ; Presi- 
dent's message to, 457 ; Gom- 
pers to Soviet Congress. 457- 
458. 

St. Mihiel, American troops at, 

430. 
Scheele, Walter T., 262. 
Schoen, Baron Wilhelm von, 34. 
Scholz, Walter, 183. 
"Scrap of Paper," 11. 
"Self-determination," 452, 454, 

455. 
Serajevo, Archduke Franz 

Ferdinand murdered at, 1. 
Serbia. The Serajevo murder, 

1 ; Austria's ultimatum, 3 ; 

the reply, 5 ; war declared on, 

5. 
Shaler, Willard. Belgian relief 

work, 45. 
Ships. Merchant ships not to 

be sunk unless they resist or 

flee, 226, 227, 228-229. 
Sinking without warning, 66, 

96. 109, 110, 226. 227, 228- 

229, 352, 356, 357. 



Socialists' opposition to regis- 
tration and draft and enlist- 
ment, 387-388, 392-394. 

Spain. Answers President's 
note, 298-299; takes charge 
of our affairs in Germany, 
324. 

"Spurlos versenkt," note of 
Count Luxburg, 409-410. 

Stahl, Gustav. Lusitarda affi- 
davit, 167. 

Stegler, Richard Peter, 162. 

Stone, Senator. On unneutral 
acts of U. S., 39 ; answer of 
Secretary Bryan, 39-44; on 
jVIcLemore resolution, 246- 
247 ; President's letter to, 
247. 

"Strict accountability," 66. 

Stumm, Dr. von. Explains de- 
tention of Gerard, 335. 

Submarines. The German. 
British war zone, 54 ; German 
war zone, 62-65 ; sinkings by, 
65 ; U. S. protests to Germany, 
66; the reply, 70, 71-73; 
Admiral Behnke on use of, 
71 ; U. S. proposes regulation 
of submarine war, 75-76; re- 
ply of Germany, 76 ; policy of 
the Allies, 77 ; answer to the 
Allies, 77-78; answer of 
France, 78-79 ; of Great Brit- 
ain, 79-81; sinkings by, 82; 
the Cnshing bombed, 86 ; Gul- 
flight torpedoed, 86; Lusi- 
tania sunk, 86-88 ; first Lusi- 
tania note, 95-97; NebrasJcan 
sunk, 100; reply of Germany, 
117-118; reply of the Presi- 
dent, 121-122; Armenian 
sunk, 120; the Orduna, 121; 
LeeJanaw sunk, 123, 124; 
Arabic sunk, 124 ; Hesperian 
sunk, 129-130 ; Germany dis- 
avows responsibility for Ara- 
bic, 198 ; case of Orduna, 200 ; 



INDEX 



481 



Ancona sunk, 203; exchange 
of notes on Ancona, 203-210; 
Persia sunk, Austria explains, 
210-211; German note on 
submarine war, 211, 214; Sus- 
sex sunk, 215-216; Eeicdistag 
resolutions on submarine war, 
217: British vessels sunk, 
216-218; Sussex notes, 217- 
221, 229; Sussex pledge, 226; 
answer of U. S., 228-229; 
German - Austro - Hungarian 
note on unrestricted use, 21:1 ; 
Lansing on use of, 211-242 ; 
case of the DeutscMand, 271- 
274; protest of the Allies, 
273-274; reply of Lansing, 
274; the U-53 at Newport, 
276-277; sinks ships off Nan- 
tucket, 277; the Marina, Bo- 
wanmore, Arabia and other 
ships sunk, American lives 
lost, 279, 280; more sinkings, 
279 ; Germany resumes ruth- 
less submarine war, 315; the 
new zones, 316-318; treat- 
ment of American ships, 316- 
317; Housatonic sunk, 327; 
more sinkings, 329; Germany 
proposes discussion, 331 ; re- 
ply of U. S.. 331; Barthelme 
to Cologne Gazette, 331-332; 
Germany's explanation of of- 
fer to discuss, 332 ; City of 
Memphis, Illinois, Vigilancia 
sunk without warning, 349; 
number of ships sunk, 397. 
Sussex sunk, American lives 
lost. 215-216; German denial, 
218; President's note: "Can 
have no other choice but to 
sever diplomatic relations," 
219-221; public opinion on 
the note, 221-223; Admiral 
von Holtzendorff denies XT- 
boat sank Sussex, 224; von 
Jagow admits, 224-226; the 



Sussex pledge, 226; public 
opinion on the pledge, 227; 
President refuses conditions, 
228-229. 

Sussex pledge, 226, 227, 228- 
229. 3 .? ^ . ' 

Sweden, on mines and war zone, 
54; exports to, 56, 57; Lux- 
burg letter, 409-411; von 
Eckhardt letter, 411. 

Switzerland. Answers Presi- 
dent's note, 298; takes over 
German Embassy in U. S., 
324; Swiss Minister sends 
offer of Germany to discuss 
troubles with IT. S,, 331; 
regulation of exports to, 371; 
remonstrates, 372. 

Tarnowski, Count, Austrian 
Ambassador, not received, 359. 

Tauscher, Hans, 261; indicted, 
261. 

Tennessee, the ruiser, carries 
gold to stranded Americans, 
16, 17. 

"Too proud to fight," 94. 

Tournai, deportations from, 
282, 283. 

Trading-with-the-enemy Act, 
418; foreign-language news- 
papers to be licensed, 418- 
419. 

Trotsky, Leon (Leber Braun- 
stein), overthrow of Russian 
Provisional Government, 433 ; 
Commissary of Foreign Af- 
fairs, 434; declares policy, 
434-435; sends peace dele- 
gates to Brest-Litovsk, 435; 
armistice, 435 ; Allies must 
declare attitude, 435; breaks 
off peace negotiations; Russia 
out of the war, 455-456; 
treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 457. 

"Truth About Germany, The," 
31. 



482 



INDEX 



Tuppel, Admiral Oscar von, 

115-116. 
Tuskania with American troops 

sunk, 427. 

U-63. German submarine sinks 
vessels off Nantucket Island, 
276-277, 278. 

U-Boat in Central Park, N. Y. 
C, 415. 

Ukraine, lost to Eussia, 457. 

Ultimata, to Serbia, 3; to Rus- 
sia, 8; to Belgium, 9. 

United States. Effect of war 
on, 11-14; stranded Ameri- 
cans, 14-17; reservists in, 17, 
18; proclamation of neutral- 
ity, 18, 19; effect on com- 
merce, 13, 14, 20 ; Ship Eegis- 
try Bill, 21 ; War Eisk Insur- 
ance, 21; German propa- 
ganda, 21-26; Kaiser pro- 
tests to President, 26, 27; 
France protests to, 27; an- 
swer to the Kaiser, 27; Bel- 
gium protests, 27, 28 ; answer 
to Belgium, 29 ; von Bern- 
storff, 29, 30 ; Mayor of Ber- 
lin appeals to Mayor of New 
York, 32, 33 ; Congress asked 
to stop munition shipments, 
36, 38 ; unneutral acts charged 
against, 39-44; Belgian relief, 
44-50; Declaration of Lon- 
don, 51, 52 ; Great Britain de- 
tains our ships, 52-54; pro- 
test of Mr. Bryan, 54-55 ; an- 
swer of Great Britain, 56-57 ; 
ease of the Dacia, 58, 59 ; of 
the Wilhelmina, 59, 60, 61, 
62, 74; Germany on food- 
stuffs, 60-62 ; of German War 
Zone, 61-65 ; note on misuse 
of flag, 65, 66; on German 
War Zone, 66 ; answer of Ger- 
many, 70 ; Admiral Behnke on 
submarines, 70, 71 ; U. S. pro- 



poses regulation of submarine 
war, 75, 76; reply of Ger- 
many, 76 ; the Allies announce 
their policy, 77 ; answer to the 
Allies, 77, 78; reply of 
France, 78; of Great Britain, 
79 : Prinz Eitel Friedncli, 
82, 85; Frye, 84-85; Odeii- 
wald, 83 ; Kronprinz Wilhelm, 
85 ; Cushing, 86 ; Gulflight, 
86; Lusitania, 86-92; first 
Lusitania note, 95-97 ; Ne- 
hra^kan, 100; Lusitania note 
of Germany, 101-102; the 
false aifidavit, 104; Bryan re- 
signs, 106; Lansing takes his 
place, 107; second Lusitania 
note, 109-111; von Jagow's 
answer, 117-118; will permit 
use of "reasonable number of 
neutral steamers under the 
American flag,'' 118; Nehras- 
kan note, 120; Armenian 
sunk, 120; reply to German 
note on Lusitania; will con- 
sider repetitions of sinking 
without warning "deliberate- 
ly unfriendly," 121-122 ; Ger- 
man-American and German 
press on the note, 122; Lee- 
lanaw sunk, 123-124; Arabic 
sunk, 124; German- American 
press on, 125 ; Bryan on, 126 ; 
von Bernstorff's note, 126- 
127 ; von Bethmann-Hollweg 
on the Arabic, 128 ; von Bern- 
storff promises liners will not 
be sunk without warning, 129, 
130; Hesperian sunk, 129; 
Germany disavows responsi- 
bilitv for Arabic, 128; case 
of Orduna, 200; Ancona 
sunk, 203; note to Austria, 
203; reply of Austria, 205- 
207; reply of U. S., 208-209; 
Austria's reply, 209 ; Persia 
sunk, 210; Austria explains. 



INDEX 



483 



210-211; German note on 
submarines, 211-214; Sussex 
sunk, 215; Germany denies 
responsibility, 218; severance 
of diplomatic relations 
threatened, 219-221; recep- 
tion of note at home and 
abroad, 221-224; Germany ad- 
mits sinking, 224-226; the 
Sussex pledge; the condition. 
226; condition not accepted 
by U. S., 228-229 ; the Presi- 
dent on preparedness, *230- 
231; measures in Congress, 
231-232; the President tours 
the West. 237-238; Secretary 
of War resigns, 239 ; German- 
Austro-Hungarian note on re- 
newal of submarine frightful- 
ness, 241, 243 ; Lansing on use 
of submarines, 241-242; ex- 
citement in Congress, 243- 
245 ; McLemore resolution. 
244; Gore resolutions, 249 
President forces a vote, 251 
Mexican border raided, 253 
troops sent, 253; army en- 
larged, 254; von Igel papers 
seized, 261-262 ; prosecution 
of plotters, 261, 262, 263; 
case of the Appam, 265-267; 
censorship of the mails, 268- 
270; case of the Deutschland, 
271-274; the British Black- 
list, 274, 276; case of the 
Arabia, 279-281; deportation 
of Belgians, action on, 285- 
289; transmits German peace 
offer, 291 ; President asks bel- 
ligerents to state aims, 292- 
294; answer of neutrals, 298; 
of Allies, 295, 296; of Bel- 
gium, 296 ; supplementary 
note from Great Britain, 305- 
307; President's speech to 
Congress on "peace without 



victory," 307-310 ; reception 
of at home and abroad, 310- 
313 ; ruthless submarine war- 
fare resumed, 315 ; the new 
zones, 316-318; treatment of 
American ships, 316-317; ex- 
citement in U. S., 318-321; 
German-American press on, 
319-320; diplomatic relations 
with Germany severed, 322- 
324; Bryan appeals to people 
not to enter war, 325 ; German 
language press on severance 
of relations, 325-326; prep- 
arations for war, 327-328; 
more sinkings, 329; Asquith 
and Law on our break with 
Germany, 330; treatment of 
Yarrowdale prisoners by Ger- 
many, 333-334; of Gerard, 
334, 335 ; Germany seeks to 
amend old Prussian treaties, 
335-336 ; Bethmann-Hollweg 
on relations with America, 
338 ; bill to arm American 
merchantmen, 341, 342 ; 
President asks power to arm, 
341-342 ; Germany proposes 
Mexico-Japanese alliance and 
war against U. S., 343; fili- 
buster in the Senate; bill to 
arm lost, 344-345; the Presi- 
dent to the people, 345-347 
Senate rules amended, 347 
special session called, 347 
U-boats sink three American 
ships; Declaration of War 
asked, 350-355; resolution de- 
claring a state of war, 355- 
356, 359; Austria severs rela- 
tions, 359 ; effect of declara- 
tion on South America, 363; 
British mission, 363-364; 
French mission, 364 ; German 
vessels seized, 365 ; mobiliza- 
tion of industries, 366-369 ; 
embargo on exports, 370; neu- 



484. 



INDEX 



trals seek food, 371-372; 
Food Control Bill, 374; 
mobilization of the army and 
navy, 378-379, 390, 396; 
loans to the Allies, 380; the 
Liberty Loan, 380-383; the 
draft, 383-394; our troops 
reach France, 377, 394-395; 
the mission to Eussia, 400; 
loans to Eussia, 400, 403; 
President's address to Eussia, 
400-401; the Pope's peace 
note and answer, 403-404, 
406-407; "Spurlos versenkt" 
note, 410-411; von Eckhardt 
note, 411 ; von Bernstorff 
seeks to influence Congress, 
411-412 ; von Igel papers 
seized, 412-415 ; war measures, 
418-432; the President on 
the War. 435-438; war de- 
clared on Austria, 438, 
439. 

Universities, The German. Ap- 
peal of, 33. 

Uruguay, 363. 



Vaneeboro, Maine. Attempt to 
destroy bridge, 160-161. 

"Victory bread," 425. 

Vigilancia sunk, 349. 

Villa, 253. 

Viviani, Eene, 10. Comes to 
U. S., 364 ; receives Pershing, 
395. 



Wanamaker, John. Belgian re- 
lief work, 48. 

War Gardens, 368-369, 374. 

Warren, Whitney, on Eheims 
Cathedral, 30. 

Waste. Hoover on. 376. 

Wedell, Hans Adam, 158-160. 

AYelland Canal. Attempt to 
blow up, 257-261. 



Wheat, price fixed, 376; 
"wheatless week" consump- 
tion cut down, 424; Lord 
Ehondda appeals for, 424 ; 
substitutes, 425 ; ration, 425 ; 
"Victory bread," 425; wheat- 
less days, 426. 

Whitlock, Brand. Belgian re- 
lief work, 45, 46, 47; on de- 
portation of Belgians, 284, 
288-289 ; relief work, 337. 

Wilhelmdna, the, case of, 59, 60, 
61, 62, 74, 145-146. 

Winchester Arms Co., charges 
against, 36, 37, 41. 

William II., King of Prussia 
and German Emperor. Pro- 
tests to President, 26; answer 
of the President, 27 ; peace 
offers, 290; address to army, 
291. 

Women's Peace Party, 140. 

Women. Asked to save food, 
370; appeal of the President 
to, 373-374. 

Wood, Geaieral Leonard. On 
preparedness, 134, 

"World must be made safe for 
democracy," 354. 



Yarroivdah, The Case of, 307; 
treatment of the prisoners, 
333, 334. 



Zimmermann, Dr. Alfred, L"''n- 
dcr-Secretary of State, 11 ; on 
Lusitayna, 212-213; confer- 
ence with Gerard, 116; pro- 
poses Mexico join Japan in 
war on U. S., 343, 344; de- 
struction of Canadian Pacific 
Eailway, 414. 

Zones, North Sea, a military, 
54; German Zone around 
British Isles, 62-65; the Sus- 



INDEX 



485 



sex pledge, 226, 227, 228-229 ; 
new war zones, 316-318 ; treat- 
ment of American ships, 316- 
317 ; neutrals protest against, 
66, 324-325; Germany's de- 



fense, 70; Admiral Behnke 
on, 70, 71 ; aroimd the Azores, 
428. 
Zwiedinek, Baron Erich, Aus- 
trian charge, 186, 210. 



'^BS2s 



